Imphal

Normal life was affected on Wednesday with closures of markets, educational institutions and business establishments in five valley districts of Manipur on the second day of a 48-hour statewide strike called by a students' organisation demanding NRC implementation before the census.

Public transport remained off the roads, but a few private vehicles were seen plying in the valley districts.

Strike enforcers in different parts of Imphal East and Imphal West districts blocked the roads with bamboo poles and stone boulders. They staged protests and put up posters with 'No NRC No Census' written on them.

Three other valley districts - Thoubal, Kakching and Bishnupur - saw thin attendance at government offices, while educational institutes remained closed.

The statewide strike called by the Campaign for Just and Free Delimitation (JFD) did not have any effect on hill districts, including Churachandpur.

On Tuesday, state government spokesperson and MLA Sapam Ranjan Singh said a delegation of legislators would go to New Delhi to meet central leaders and apprise them of people's demand for the National Register of Citizens (NRC) before the census.

The self-enumeration phase of Census 2027 was scheduled to begin on August 17. The main house-listing operation will start from September 1 to September 30 this year.

Students, demanding implementation of the NRC in Manipur before the census, staged a demonstration outside the Directorate of Census Operations in Imphal on Sunday, prompting the police to fire tear gas shells to disperse them.

Hundreds of protesters in Imphal East and Imphal West districts also held a torch rally on August 16 evening, demanding implementation of the NRC before any census activity in the state to identify illegal immigrants.

Chief Minister Y Khemchand Singh had on Tuesday said, "The government has been supporting the NRC demand. The assembly too has previously taken a resolution on the issue and conveyed to the Centre."

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The assembly had passed a resolution on the issue in 2022.

"I request all to take another form of agitation instead of resorting to bandhs and blockades as these affect daily wage earners and students," Singh added.