Manipur Govt Seeks Centre’s Help To Start NRC Process

Thadou tribe in Manipur has announced its support to the Biren led government's call for implementation of NRC in the state.

The Manipur Government has sought the Centre’s help to start the process of preparing NRC in the state. This move is aimed at detecting illegal migrants, mainly from Myanmar who are residing in the state.

The process to identify illegal immigrants was started under a cabinet sub-committee led by minister Letpao Haokip before the ethnic violence broke out in the state, but the process was on hold for several months during the unrest that began in May last year.

In fact, the Manipur Government had last year requested the Centre to extend by a year the process of recording biometrics of illegal migrants from Myanmar. Around 2700 illegal migrants were detected in the first phase while another 9000 were detected in the next round of biometrics collection. Chief Minister N Biren Singh had in February this year informed the Assembly that as many as 6746 illegal Myanmarese nationals had been detected in the state from May 3, 2023 to February 27, 2024.

Biometric recording is necessary in the run up to preparing the National Register of Citizens. Earlier this year, the Manipur Assembly had adopted a resolution that urged the Centre to implement NRC in the state to detect foreigners. Kuki groups had opposed the decision to implement NRC.

Meanwhile, the Thadou tribe in Manipur has announced its support to the N Biren Singh led government’s call for implementation of NRC in the state.

The Thadou tribe, which is the oldest non-naga tribe in Manipur and is estimated to have a population of 2.5 lakh, has formally rejected any association with the Kuki identity.

The 2-day Thadou Convention organised in Guwahati last week, emphasized the tribe’s distinct ethnic status and its separation from the Kuki identity stating that the Thadous are a distinct tribe with its own separate language, culture and tradition.

The Convention attributed the tribe’s identification with the label Kuki as a colonial era mis-identification.
The Thadou Convention in a statement said that it will support the National Register of Citizens or NRC if the Centre decides to carry out the exercise in Manipur.

They also voiced support for the Manipur Government’s War on Drugs campaign, and asked the government to “implement it more effectively with a greater community engagement and better planning and a clear goal for the best socio-economic and environmental outcomes for now and the future.”

Leaders further resolved to seek Scheduled Tribe recognition for the Thadou community in the states of Assam, Mizoram, and Nagaland.

It may be mentioned that Kuki groups are opposed to the implementation of NRC in Manipur. The Manipur Government has been pushing for the implementation of NRC with 1961 as the base year.

Also Read: Manipur Police Rescue Elderly Kuki Woman, Return Her Safely Amid Ongoing Tensions

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