Imphal: The Congress is not going to oppose the implementation of the Nationwide Register of Residents (NRC) in Manipur if the train is decoupled from the Citizenship Modification Act (CAA), the occasion’s Lok Sabha candidate from the Internal Manipur parliamentary constituency A. Bimol Akoijam instructed ThePrint Friday.
Akoijam’s assertion comes at a time there was a concerted push from the Bharatiya Janata Social gathering (BJP) to nook the Congress on the query of implementing the NRC in Manipur the place an ethnic battle has refused to die down even after eleven months.
In an interview to ThePrint, Akoijam, an affiliate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru College’s Faculty of Social Sciences, mentioned that on NRC, the reservations of the Congress excessive command, notably that of Rahul Gandhi, stem from the priority that comes with linking it with the CAA.
“If the NRC in itself (is concerned), I don’t think anybody will have any problem. That is why the Congress party supported it in 2003. The state unit has endorsed (assembly) resolutions on this one. People are deliberately trying to create an impression (that the Congress is against the NRC),” Akoijam mentioned.
In August 2022, the Manipur Legislative Meeting handed a decision demanding the implementation of the NRC to determine unlawful immigrants and deport them. Final month, the meeting handed one other decision, reaffirming the earlier one.
However, the 5 Congress MLAs had walked out earlier than the decision was handed, prompting the BJP to assert that the Congress was towards the NRC. BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh is among the many BJP leaders who’ve attacked the Congress over the difficulty.
The Congress state unit sought to make clear, saying its legislators walked out not opposing the NRC, however the speaker’s refusal to carry discussions on a wider set of agendas, together with the NRC.
Your complete episode as soon as once more laid naked the Congress’s issue in balancing the issues of Northeast’s indigenous communities that largely assist the thought of the NRC and oppose the CAA, whereas additionally allaying fears of huge sections of Muslims who’re against each.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had posted on ‘X’ (then Twitter) on 16 December, 2019, “The CAA & NRC are weapons of mass polarisation unleashed by fascists on India.”
Akoijam instructed ThePrint that the Congress had, in reality, supported the NRC in 2003 when it was launched as a part of the CAA caused by the BJP-led NDA authorities. He emphasised that there’s a “need to address this issue of illegal immigrants and who is a citizen and not a citizen”.
Nonetheless, Akoijam, who specialises in identification politics and battle, mentioned that one additionally must be aware of the problems that will come up out of the NRC train like in Assam the place there isn’t any readability on find out how to deal with these recognized as unlawful immigrants.
“That there are international dimensions. Once you identify these people, how do you want to treat them? Can you really push them to other countries? One should be aware of these issues. But there is definitely a need to check illegal immigrants and to distinguish who is a citizen and who is not, so my position on the NRC is very clear.”
Akoijam added that he additionally shares the issues of the Congress excessive command concerning the CAA because the individuals “have this suspicion that it might lead to the victimisation of a particular community”.
Furthermore, individuals within the Northeast are additionally involved concerning the scope supplied by the CAA to these recognized as Bangladeshi Hindus beneath the NRC to settle in India. “It is going to affect India’s Northeast far more than any other place in the country.”
Apart from the NRC, the demand of the Meitei civil society teams that the group be granted the standing of Scheduled Tribe (ST) has additionally emerged as a serious speaking level forward of the polls in Manipur.
The renewed thrust on this demand is important as Union Residence Minister Amit Shah had mentioned that an order, “given in haste”, of the Manipur Excessive Court docket directing the state authorities to contemplate Meiteis as STs had acted as a spark for the violence. In February this 12 months, the excessive courtroom modified the order, deleting the contentious portion.
Akoijam mentioned the demand was basically arising out of a “legitimate concern” of the Meiteis concerning their “existential threat”. The Meiteis really feel that the ST standing would act as a constitutional safeguard on this regard, mentioned the Congress candidate.
“But I will not be very crass or brash about this position and say I don’t give a damn about what my other fellow people feel about it,” Akoijam mentioned, stressing that the tribal Kuki group, which is strongly against the Meitei demand for ST standing, should be introduced on board by way of dialogue. “You cannot be bulldozing it over them.”
“We need to talk to them and convince them, and they also need to understand as fellow citizens the genuine concerns of the Meitei community and that some of their (Kuki) concerns may not be factually correct,” Akoijam mentioned, including that the Nagaland mannequin the place tribes are categorized as superior and backward might be one possibility.
Asserting that the writ of the state has come beneath menace in Manipur, Akoijam mentioned for peace to be restored, it was crucial that justice “must be done to all sections of the society”.
“There cannot be no peace with justice. Meiteis have suffered also, great injustices have been done,” he mentioned.
Manipur will vote on 19 and 26 April. The Internal Manipur seat, which is scheduled to go to the polls within the first section, is at the moment held by BJP MP and Union minister Ranjan Kumar Rajkumar. Akoijam is pitted towards Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh of the BJP.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Additionally Learn: Union Residence Minister Amit Shah more likely to go to Manipur forward of polling
