The Government of India has finally blinked. After weeks of mounting pressure, protests and an increasingly uncompromising public demand, the Centre has deferred the Census exercise in Manipur. Yet the streets have not fallen silent. The 24-hour general strike called by the Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation went ahead despite the deferment because, according to the organisation, the government has still not provided a concrete commitment on updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC).This is not simply a disagreement over the timing of a Census. It is a manifestation of a much larger crisis of trust.The people of Manipur have heard assurances for too long. Since the outbreak of violence in May 2023, the distance between government pronouncements and the reality experienced by ordinary people has become painfully evident. Thousands remain displaced, communities remain divided, normal life remains fragile and questions concerning security, governance, land and identity remain unresolved. The change of government has not automatically repaired that broken confidence. That is why the present agitation cannot be understood merely as an attempt by civil society organisations to obstruct the Census. For a significant section of the population, the demand for NRC before Census has become a test of whether the government is prepared to confront what they consider a fundamental threat to Manipur’s demographic and political future.
The concern over illegal immigration also did not emerge yesterday. Manipur’s location along the international border with Myanmar has made undocumented cross-border movement a longstanding concern. The upheaval since 2023 has intensified public anxiety about population movement, land, resources, political representation and demographic change. Civil society groups demanding NRC have repeatedly argued that the State must first establish who is a genuine citizen and who is not before undertaking an exercise that will determine the official demographic picture of the State.The government cannot simply dismiss these concerns as emotional or politically motivated. At the same time, Manipur must not make the dangerous mistake of equating ethnicity with citizenship.
An illegal immigrant is a person whose status has to be established under law. It cannot be determined by tribe, ethnicity, religion, language, appearance or political affiliation. If the government genuinely intends to identify illegal foreign nationals, the exercise must be based on documents, verifiable records and due process. Genuine Indian citizens must not be victimised, regardless of their ethnic identity. This is precisely why a credible NRC—or an equally credible legal mechanism for citizenship verification—matters.
The government’s greatest failure has been its inability to provide such credibility. When the public repeatedly asks a straightforward question—when will the NRC be updated?—the answer cannot remain an indefinite promise. When the government postpones the Census but says nothing definitive about the mechanism, criteria or timeline for citizenship verification, it should not be surprised when people interpret the silence as reluctance. The latest development exposes this contradiction.
The Centre has agreed to defer the Census citing the sentiments and aspirations of the people of Manipur. The Chief Minister has welcomed the decision. Yet the very organisation that spearheaded the agitation says the deferment is insufficient because the fundamental demand remains unanswered. What, then, has actually been resolved? Very little. The government has bought time. It has not yet restored trust. And time is precisely what Manipur has already lost. For three years, the people have watched institutions struggle to restore normalcy. They have watched political promises collide with administrative delays. They have seen competing claims about land, identity, migration and security become increasingly entrenched. In such an environment, every unexplained delay becomes another reason for suspicion.
The State government must therefore stop treating public agitation merely as a law-and-order problem. A government that has lost public confidence cannot regain it through appeals to withdraw bandhs alone. Bandhs and blockades undeniably hurt ordinary people. They disrupt education, healthcare, transportation, trade and the livelihoods of those who can least afford another shutdown. Protest cannot become a permanent substitute for governance. But neither can governance become a permanent substitute for accountability. The responsibility now lies squarely with the Centre and the State government to put the facts on the table. If an NRC is feasible, announce the legal framework and timeline. If it is not, explain why. If illegal immigration is a genuine concern, disclose what mechanisms are already being used to identify and verify foreign nationals. If the government’s assessment differs substantially from that of civil society organisations, publish the evidence and explain the methodology. Manipur does not need another round of closed-door assurances. It needs transparency. The government must also recognise that demographic anxiety cannot be addressed selectively. The same constitutional State that protects indigenous interests must protect every genuine Indian citizen. Citizenship verification must therefore be firm enough to detect illegal immigration and fair enough to prevent wrongful exclusion. That is the only sustainable middle ground.
