Ethnic identity of a state will vanish when religious identity disappears, said retired political science associate professor, J Indrakumar during a one-day panel discussion on ‘constraints and prospects of census and religion’ on Wednesday at Manipur Press Club in Imphal. It was organised by Leishemba Pathou Imphal.
Highlighting the issue of influx of immigrants in the state, Indrakumar said that the state government is concerned about the issue. However, people of the state should be aware about the relationship between census and religion before counting population census.
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Due to COVID pandemic, the census was not conducted but when it began, the public should be made aware of it, the retired professor said.
Indrakumar also said, people should be aware that with the disappearance of religious identity, one will also lose the ethnic identity. If those who have converted to other religion know about this, they will come back on their own to their religion, he added.
During the discussion, he also spoke about relative aspects of census and religion explaining the impact on the Meeteis.
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JNIMS associate professor in community medicine, W Jibol spoke on certain loopholes of irresponsibility and unaccountability in the process of census data and reports and suggested a norm of religion.
Retired (SBI) chief associate, L Birahari spoke on the declining trend of Meetei religion and suggested some important tips.
Social activist Rakesh Moirangthem critically discussed the issues of influx of migrant workers and others suffering from demographic imbalance and suggested concrete measures.
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