A 10-member team comprising leaders of different communities and organisations in Manipur left for New Delhi on Thursday (August 20, 2026) amid the unrest in the State’s Imphal Valley to press for an updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) before the Census exercise is conducted in the State.

The departure of the team, representing members from the Meitei, Pangal (Manipuri Muslims), Naga, and other indigenous communities, coincided with the boycott of Central and State government offices in Manipur on Thursday (August 20, 2026).

The Campaign for Just and Free Delimitation, a civil society and student-led movement at the forefront of the pro-NRC movement, announced an indefinite boycott across five districts in the Imphal Valley. The boycott started after a 48-hour general shutdown ended on Wednesday (August 19, 2026).

“We will take the people’s demand for an Assam-like exercise to update the NRC in Manipur before Census and delimitation to Union Ministers, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, and Intelligence Bureau officials,” a team leader said before leaving for New Delhi.

He cited the cases of Assam and Jammu & Kashmir to emphasise that Census operations can be deferred to prioritise the NRC, “which is more important to secure the future of Manipur’s indigenous communities”.

The 1981 Census could not be conducted in Assam due to the anti-foreigners’ Assam Agitation. Similarly, civil unrest and extremism affected the 1991 Census exercise in Jammu & Kashmir.

In Imphal, the campaigners appealed to the people of Manipur to take up the NRC demand with their respective MLAs. The NRC was important to weed out “illegal immigrants” from the State, the campaigners said.

The State government also said it favoured implementation of the NRC, given the concerns over demographic changes and imbalances due to illegal migration.

On Thursday, Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh met a delegation of students from 10 schools and colleges. The delegation demanded implementation of the NRC before the Census was conducted.

Precautionary step

Given the prevailing law-and-order situation, the government ordered the closure of all educational institutions for three days from Thursday (August 20, 2026).

“…the Governor of Manipur is pleased to declare the closure of all schools as may be affiliated to the Board of Secondary Education, the Council of Higher Secondary Education, the Central Board of Secondary Education or otherwise; colleges and higher education institutes including universities; falling under government, aided or unaided sectors, from Thursday, the 20th of August, 2026 to Saturday, the 22nd of August, 2026,” an official order said.

The United Naga Council, Manipur’s apex Naga organisation, also reiterated that no Census and delimitation exercise should be conducted in the State before the NRC’s implementation. A Pangal union also issued a similar statement.

However, the Kuki-Zo Council raised serious concerns over the proposal to use 1951 as the base year for the NRC in Manipur. “There is nothing inherently objectionable about the Census, but using 1951 as the base year for updating the NRC creates a cloud of uncertainty,” the council said.

Manipur’s indigenous communities largely see the Kuki-Zo people as migrants from across the India-Myanmar border.

Published - August 20, 2026 05:05 pm IST