IMPHAL: The Campaign for Just & Fair Delimitation (JFD) on Sunday stepped up its agitation against the ongoing census process, announcing daily torch rallies across Manipur and warning of stronger protests, including storming deputy commissioner (DC) offices, if the government fails to defer the census and take up its demand for NRC updation first.
JFD convenor Jeetendra Ningomba announced the intensified programme at a press conference held at the organisation’s protest site at the WAL Club campus in Wangkhei Angom Leikai.
He said the torch rallies would begin from Sunday and be held every day between 7 pm and 8 pm at different locations across the state. He warned that the JFD would launch further forms of agitation, including a total shutdown and other statewide programmes, if the government continues to ignore its demand.
Jeetendra said the organisation would mobilise people for a stronger agitation within the next two to three days if the government fails to take any positive steps towards deferring the census.
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The JFD also condemned the police action against its Students’ Wing during a protest at the gate of the Directorate of Census in Porompat, where three students were hospitalised on Sunday.
Students’ Wing convenor Naorem Wangamba, speaking to reporters, termed the police action “very harsh” and said such treatment should not be meted out to students participating in a democratic protest.
Wangamba further alleged that a DSP of Imphal East had threatened to fire his gun at the protesters during the confrontation. He demanded the suspension of the officer within 24 hours, saying action should be taken against officials responsible for what he described as excessive use of force against protesting students.
Meanwhile, with self-enumeration for the census set to begin through a mobile application from Monday, the JFD appealed to indigenous people of Manipur not to participate in the exercise.
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Jeetendra also appealed to government officials deployed for census operations to refrain from participating in the process, urging them to consider the interests of the indigenous people of Manipur.
The JFD has been demanding that the NRC be updated before the census and has been carrying out its agitation under the slogan, “No NRC, No Census.”
