Women vendors of Khwairamband Keithel and shopkeepers operating in and around the market have intensified their agitation, demanding that the Government of India and the Manipur Government issue an official order stating that the Census will be conducted only after the updation of the NRC.
The vendors have been staging a sit-in protest at Khwairamband Keithel since yesterday and have announced plans to intensify the agitation until their demand is fulfilled.
They maintained that the Census should be conducted in the State only after the NRC is updated and people displaced by the ongoing conflict are resettled in their respective places of origin.
Although the Manipur Government has expressed its position on the deferment of the Census, the protesters said that no formal order has been issued so far to officially communicate the decision to the public.
They asserted that the agitation would not be withdrawn until the government issues a written and formal order clearly stating that the Census will be conducted only after the NRC is updated.
The women vendors also appealed to shopkeepers and vendors from different areas who conduct business around Khwairamband Keithel to extend support to the agitation by suspending their business activities and joining the protest.
The protesters said the ongoing agitation has caused considerable hardship to their daily livelihoods. However, they maintained that they would continue the movement until the government addresses their demands.