Imphal, August 17: Protests demanding implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) before the Census intensified in Manipur on Monday, with the Just Fair Delimitation (JFD) announcing a two-day general strike across the state from midnight on August 17. The shutdown has been called as part of the ongoing movement demanding that the NRC exercise be completed before the Census.

The JFD has appealed to people across Manipur to support the agitation and make the general strike successful. “We are struggling against the government because we, the Manipuris, are going to become extinct here due to the policies of the Indian government.

They are trying to conduct the Census while we are facing numerous challenges because of illegal immigration. Many students were injured today,” the general secretary of Dhanamanjuri University said.

The strike has received the backing of several civil society organisations, including the United Meitei Naga Committee Manipur, Federation of Naga Civil Society (FNCC), Chandel Naga People’s Organisation, United Meitei Pangal Committee and Native People’s Committee Manipur. Organisations leading the movement have urged the government to conduct the NRC exercise before the Census, arguing that the identification of genuine citizens should precede population enumeration.

Earlier in the day, two people were injured during an alleged police lathi charge at the Dhanamanjuri University campus, according to a JFD member. The injured were identified as Thokchom Tombi, 20, a student of GP College and resident of Lamboikhul Makha Leikai, who sustained an injury to his hand, and Kharibam Reshma, 30, associated with the JFD student wing and a student of Regional College, who suffered a head injury.

Both were admitted to Raj Medicity Hospital for treatment. The developments came amid growing protests in the state over the demand for an NRC exercise before the Census, with organisers maintaining that citizenship verification should precede population enumeration.