The census dispute has exposed a deeper divide over Manipur’s demographics: while Meitei and Naga organisations seek an NRC before the population count, Kuki-Zo groups argue that an impartial census must come first.
BY PC Bureau
SEPTEMBER 1: The Kuki-Zo Council on Tuesday criticised the Centre’s decision to defer the Census 2027 exercise in Manipur, alleging that the move followed demands from selected civil society organisations while Kuki-Zo groups were excluded from the consultation process. The KZC also demanded reimposition of President rule in the state.
The Centre deferred the house-listing phase of the census, which was scheduled to begin in Manipur on September 1, following a high-level meeting in New Delhi chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The meeting was attended by Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan and other senior officials.
According to the Manipur government, the meeting discussed demands for implementing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) before the census. Fourteen civil society organisations representing Meitei and Naga communities have been campaigning for an “NRC first, Census later” approach, citing concerns over alleged illegal immigration, demographic changes and the implications of a future delimitation exercise.
The Kuki-Zo Council, however, said no Kuki-Zo organisation was part of that demand.
“Not a single Kuki-Zo organisation was part of this demand,” council spokesperson Ginza Vualzong said, questioning the decision to invoke the “feelings and aspirations of the people of Manipur” while, according to the council, excluding one of the state’s major communities from the process.
The council said the exclusion raised concerns about the inclusiveness of the decision-making process at a time when the state remains deeply divided along ethnic lines.
The Manipur High Court had also put the census and house-listing exercise on hold on Monday following petitions seeking an NRC before the census. The court’s intervention came amid sustained protests by groups backing the NRC demand.
READ: Kuki-Zo Council Rejects Naga MLAs’ Appeal to Shah, Demands ‘Equal Accountability’
Two sharply different positions
The dispute over the census reflects a broader disagreement between communities over how Manipur’s demographic situation should be assessed.
Meitei and Naga organisations supporting the NRC-first demand argue that citizenship verification should precede the census. They have cited concerns over alleged migration from Myanmar and the possibility that demographic changes could affect future political representation.
The issue is also linked to delimitation. Manipur has 60 Assembly seats, with 40 in the valley and 20 in the hills, and the present distribution is based on an older delimitation exercise. Sections of the Meitei community fear that a new population count could alter the state’s political balance.
Kuki-Zo organisations have taken the opposite position. The Kuki-Zo Council has described an NRC before the census as premature and argued that an impartial census should first establish reliable demographic data.
The council has also disputed claims linking the Kuki-Zo population with alleged illegal immigration, pointing to the longstanding cross-border ethnic and familial links between communities in Manipur and Myanmar.
Council seeks President’s Rule
The Kuki-Zo Council also renewed its demand for the reimposition of President’s Rule in Manipur, arguing that the present elected government has failed to provide adequate security to the community.
President’s Rule, imposed in February 2025 after the resignation of former chief minister N Biren Singh, was revoked in February 2026 after Yumnam Khemchand Singh took office. The Kuki-Zo Council said it believed the community had felt safer during President’s Rule and urged the Centre to intervene if the state government was unable to protect its citizens.
The council said the Kuki-Zo community had continued to face insecurity since the outbreak of ethnic violence in May 2023. It argued that the latest developments reinforced its demand for a political arrangement that would guarantee the community’s security, land, identity and dignity.
The organisation also referred to continuing tensions involving different communities and said the Kuki-Zo could not expect justice and security under the present political arrangement.
Census dispute deepens political divide
The Centre’s decision has temporarily removed the immediate prospect of the house-listing exercise, but it has not resolved the underlying disagreement over the sequence of NRC, Census and delimitation.
The NRC demand is not new. Meitei and Naga organisations had raised it before the 2023 ethnic conflict, and the issue gained renewed prominence amid concerns over migration from Myanmar and the demographic consequences of the continuing displacement crisis. The demand has since attracted support from sections of the political establishment as well.
For the Kuki-Zo Council, however, the deferment raises a different concern: whether decisions concerning the state’s demographic and political future can be regarded as legitimate if one of its major communities is not represented in the consultations leading to them.
“The Kuki-Zo will not accept decisions made about us without us,” the council said, insisting that no decision concerning the community’s future could be legitimate if the community itself was excluded from the process.
The dispute now leaves the Centre facing a difficult balancing act: addressing demands for citizenship verification and demographic safeguards from sections of Manipur while also ensuring that the census process is viewed as neutral and inclusive by communities on all sides of the state’s continuing ethnic divide.
