Hundreds of women members of the Ema Keithel (mother’s market) in Imphal on Tuesday staged a dharna seeking the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for the protection of the state's indigenous community, the third such protest on the issue this month.

The earlier two dharnas for early implementation of the NRC, a document of Indian citizens, were carried out by student organisations in Imphal on March 13, and at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi on March 17.

Representatives of the six valley-based student organisations also participated in the dharna staged by the women vendors of the market located in the heart of Manipur capital Imphal. The women members of the market are an influential and socially active lot when it comes to taking up causes in the greater interest of the state.

The women vendors had even protested against the citizenship amendment bill passed by Parliament in December 2019. The protests in Manipur forced the Union Home ministry to extend the inner line permit (ILP) and exempting the state from the citizenship amendment bill (CAB) in 2019.

The protesters staged the dharna at the Ema market and then proceeded towards the chief minister's bungalow in Imphal but were intercepted by security personnel and forced to return to the market. The protest started at 11am and ended around 1pm.

Members of the student bodies — AMSU, MSF, DESAM, KSA, SUK and AIMS — also participated in the protest, a student leader said.

The protesters displayed placards such as Save Manipur From Influx.