Will recommend implementation of NRC in Manipur, says CM Biren Singh

IMPHAL — Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Wednesday said that he will send a recommendation to the Centre for implementing the National Register for Citizens (NRC) in the state as his government cannot do it alone.

Singh’s statement came a few days after the assembly passed a resolution urging the central government to implement the NRC in the state “in the interest of the state in particular and of the nation in general”.

The chief minister of the state which has been on the boil since May last year over ethnic strife also claimed that he and the ruling BJP have committed “no wrong”.

He also claimed that the Meitei, Kuki and Naga communities are not behind the violence in the state and blamed those people “who want to break Manipur”.

“The state cannot implement it (NRC). We have taken a resolution in the House. We are sending a recommendation to the Central government to do the needful for implementation of NRC in Manipur,” Singh told reporters at the sidelines of a programme.

The base year will be 1961, he said at the function held at the BJP office.

The state cabinet in 2022 adopted 1961 as the base for identifying illegal immigration in the state for the implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) which was introduced in the state in December 2019 and came into effect in January 2020.

The chief minister also said that the ruling BJP will start campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections from Friday, though no candidate has been announced by the party for Manipur so far.

The Northeastern state has two Lok Sabha seats –Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur. The former is held by the BIP while the latter was bagged by the NPF in the 2019 polls.

“Ask yourself whether the BJP has done anything wrong for the state and its people. The BJP is not wrong. I can confidently say this because I am not wrong. We have to send two MPs (to Lok Sabha). We will start our campaign from the day after tomorrow,” Singh said.

No party other than the BJP can save Manipur, he claimed.

“This conflict we are facing is not because of the Kuki, Meitei or Naga people but because of those who want to break Manipur. This government is not against any community,” Singh said.

More than 180 people were killed since the violence erupted on May 3 after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe(ST) status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts.