Manipur tribal organisations have demanded NRC in the state
At a time when Assam has been battling with the National Register of Citizens, or NRC, 19 influential tribal organisations have stepped up the demand for the implementation of the NRC in Manipur to protect indigenous people and deal with illegal foreigners.
The 19 tribal groups submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, demanding the NRC for filtering illegal foreigners, putting them in detention centres and deporting them.
The organisations said Home Minister Amit Shah in his speech in Rajya Sabha in November 2019 said the NRC would be implemented across the country.
"In the light of this perception, we call for the implementation of NRC in Manipur to safeguard the genuine citizens," the tribal organisations said.
They said illegal foreigners are threat to indigenous people of Manipur and India in general.
"It is the request to our responsible central government to open centres for detection and deportation of foreigners," the organisations said.
The tribal bodies said that in 1980 and 1994, the All-Manipur Students' Union and the All Manipur Coordinating Committee had undergone an agreement twice with the Manipur government and the then governor VK Nair for detecting and deporting illegal foreign nationals from Manipur with the cut-off base of 1951.
They said though the centre has extended the Inner Line Permit System to Manipur in December 2019, indigenous people are yet to be defined.
They said no positive step has been taken for the last 75 years under the Foreigners Act, 1946.
"Because of this continuous overflow of influxes, which subsisted within us, has now taken possession of the socio economic and political rights of the indigenous people. Bangladeshi and Myanmar Muslims have occupied the constituency of Jiribam and a large number of them scattered on average in valley areas," the organisations said.
"Myanmar Kuki and nearby Lushai Kuki have settled at an unsystematic population of some lakhs in number. They have now counteracted ownership against the occupant indigenous people in hill areas. Likewise, Nepali population has risen in tremendous numbers," the tribal organisations said.
Besides the NRC with 1951 as the base year for recognising domicile, Manipur students' bodies have demanded the establishment of a State Population Commission to "check and balance population growth".