Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Imphal: The Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation announced a statewide shutdown of State and Central government offices in Manipur. This protest starts September 11. The group demands the Government of India update the National Register of Citizens using 1951 as the base year.
JFD convenor Jeetendra Ningomba set a firm deadline. The Manipur government must take the demand to the Centre by September 10. They also want an official government order issued within the month. Ningomba addressed reporters at his office and the Citizens Club in Soibam Leikai on Thursday.
The group claims officials ignored six earlier demands despite giving assurances. They are now forcing the state to act. Failure to engage with the Centre will trigger the shutdown. Ningomba warned that the government carries full responsibility for any fallout. He stated, "The organisation had given the Manipur government time until September 10 to take up the demand with the Centre and ensure that 1951 is adopted as the base year for NRC updation."
Essential services remain exempt from the protest. This includes electricity, water supply, medical services, agriculture, courts, post offices, and banks. Ningomba urged locals to support the movement. He vowed that the group would use other democratic agitation methods if the state tries to suppress them.
Updated at 11th September 2026 at 1:48am
As the JFD readies its shutdown, the Kuki-Zo political front is sharpening its own stance. The Kuki National Organisation and the United People Front have formally rejected the 1951 NRC base year demand. The groups argue that any move to verify citizenship must rely on a full Census rather than historical records that they claim left out remote hill settlements. They warned that using a 1951 cutoff risks unfairly targeting their community.
These umbrella groups have also abandoned their previous push for a territorial council, instead demanding a Union Territory with its own legislature under Article 239A of the Constitution. They claim the ethnic violence that erupted in May 2023 rendered the old status quo dead and insisted that a separate administration is the only path to protecting their security and land rights.
Meanwhile, the Kuki Inpi Manipur has fired back at calls from Meitei and Naga groups to scrap the 2008 Suspension of Operations agreement. They insist the pact is a vital peace mechanism overseen by the Centre and the Joint Monitoring Group. The group maintained that any alleged violations of ground rules must be handled through official channels rather than by dismantling the entire framework, asserting that no single ethnic community has the right to dictate the political future of the Kuki-Zo people.
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