Spokesperson: Prof A. Bimol Akoijam MP: He demanded that the Census exercise in Manipur be immediately postponed in view of the violence and displacement in the state over the past three years, conducting the exercise under the prevailing circumstances would be an injustice to the people.

More than 10,000 houses have been destroyed and several villages completely devastated during the conflict, he said, adding that violence was continuing and had now spread to districts that were earlier considered safe, bringing more communities into its ambit.

He questioned how house numbering and listing could be carried out in villages affected by violence when thousands of residents had been displaced and were living in relief camps. “Accurate house listing of thousands of homeless people living in relief camps is practically impossible,” he said, adding that conducting the exercise in the present circumstances would amount to further injustice and humiliation for people who had already suffered for three years.

The Congress MP also raised concerns over illegal migration through Manipur’s open border with Myanmar. He demanded that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process be completed before the Census so that an authentic database of citizens could be prepared.

He also cited a 2007 Gauhati High Court judgment, in which the population figures were viewed as highly questionable. He said that the long-standing and unresolved questions surrounding Manipur’s population should be addressed before the new Census is undertaken.

The people of Manipur, he said, therefore wanted a credible and judicious process to distinguish between indigenous residents, illegal migrants and foreign nationals before a fresh Census is conducted. Thursday, August 20, 2026