Overview
- The Union government postponed Census-2027 operations in Manipur after a high-level meeting in New Delhi chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and attended by the state chief minister and governor.
- The Manipur Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the Centre to update the National Register of Citizens in the state before any census, marking the third such resolution since 2022.
- Civil society actor Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation ran a 24-hour shutdown in the Imphal Valley that closed markets and schools and pushed several district administrations to cancel or defer census training for enumerators.
- Kuki-Zo bodies publicly rejected a state-specific NRC as unconstitutional while sections of the Meitei and Naga communities say an updated NRC is needed to guard against alleged cross-border migration from Myanmar, deepening communal distrust.
- The deferment addresses the census timetable but not the core questions about procedure, legality and community trust; key next steps to watch include any formal NRC roadmap from the Centre, court orders, and efforts to rebuild intercommunal confidence.