JFD convenor Jeetendra rejects government's appeal to withdraw NRC agitation and seeks clarity on the temporary Census postponement notice deferring only the house-listing exercise.
Imphal, Sept. 15: Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD) convenor Jeetendra Ningomba on Tuesday questioned the Manipur government’s claim that the postponement of Census-related work reflected the wishes of the people, arguing that the latest notification only temporarily deferred house-listing and did not guarantee that the Census would be held after updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) with 1951 as the base year.
Speaking at a press conference at the Citizen’s Club, Soibam Leikai Wangkhei Khunou, Jeetendra responded to points raised by Manipur government spokespersons Th. Radheshyam and Sapam Ranjan Singh at a September 13 press meet concerning the JFD’s ongoing “NO NRC, NO CENSUS” movement.
The JFD has been demanding that the Census should not be conducted in Manipur until the NRC is updated, with 1951 as the base year.
The government spokespersons had said the Census had been postponed in accordance with the wishes of the people of Manipur. They also referred to a resolution adopted by the eighth session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly urging the Centre not to conduct the Census until the NRC is updated, and said 1951 would be the base year for the NRC exercise.
According to the government’s position, a team of MLAs led by Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam was in New Delhi to urge the Centre to implement the Assembly’s resolution. The spokespersons had also appealed to the JFD to withdraw its agitation, including the closure of government offices, arguing that such actions were causing hardship to the public.
Jeetendra, however, said the description of the Census as having been postponed according to the wishes of the people was “unclear and incomplete”.
He referred to the amended Extraordinary Gazette notification issued by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner on September 5, which stated that house-listing scheduled from September 1 to 30 in Manipur had been postponed temporarily until further notice.
According to the JFD, the notification did not state that Census operations would remain suspended until the NRC was updated or foreigners were identified.
Jeetendra argued that another notification could potentially be issued later allowing Census operations to resume before the identification of alleged foreigners was completed.
The JFD also disputed the government’s description of the Assembly resolution, particularly the claim that it explicitly established 1951 as the base year for updating the NRC.
Jeetendra said the resolution issued by the Assembly did not contain such a provision and therefore, in the JFD’s view, the government had overstated what the House had resolved.
At the same time, he described the Manipur government’s decision to send a team led by the Home Minister to New Delhi to press the Centre to implement the Assembly resolution as a positive step.
However, the JFD rejected the government’s appeal to withdraw its agitation on the grounds that action on the people’s demands had already begun.
Jeetendra argued that the temporary postponement of house-listing and the Assembly resolution remained insufficient to meet the organisation’s demand for conducting the NRC exercise before the Census.
He said the JFD’s agitation had become necessary because, according to the organisation, both the decision of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner and the Assembly resolution had failed to fully address the demands being raised by the people.
The JFD convenor further claimed that movement by the government had come only after sustained public agitation. He said the organisation therefore considered continued mobilisation necessary to press for implementation of its demands.
Jeetendra said the JFD would also continue to support the Home Minister’s efforts in New Delhi to persuade the Centre to act on the Assembly resolution, arguing that the ongoing agitation could strengthen those efforts rather than undermine them.
On the government’s concern that the agitation was causing hardship to the public, Jeetendra disputed the claim that the JFD’s general strike was the principal cause of disruption.
He argued that prolonged road blockades were responsible for greater hardship to ordinary people and urged authorities to focus on addressing that issue.
The JFD also called for closer monitoring and restraint of what Jeetendra referred to as “terrorist groups”, saying that such action would contribute more effectively to restoring stability in Manipur.
The organisation further demanded greater transparency from the government over its discussions with the Centre.
Jeetendra said that if the points submitted by the Home Minister to the Government of India were made public, people would be able to assess the government’s efforts and would be reassured.
He questioned whether the government could claim to be acting on public demands if the specific proposals and requests being placed before the Centre by elected representatives were not disclosed.
The JFD said it would continue its movement until it was satisfied that the demand for updating the NRC before the Census had been addressed.
