Congress Ruckus Over Violence Stalls Manipur Assembly Session

Guwahati: The day-long session of the Manipur Legislative Assembly on Tuesday was adjourned sine die soon after commencement following a ruckus over the violence in the state that has sustained for nearly four months now. Early in the morning, before the House met, heavy firing between two groups at Narainsena in Bishnupur district was reported, in which one person was killed and another injured. And a village defence volunteer who was staying at a relief camp was killed when a bomb suddenly exploded.

The much-awaited Assembly session, the first since ethnic strife broke out in May, was to discuss the violence. The Assembly session began at 11 am but Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata was compelled to adjourn it after the obituary references and tabling of the committee reports as the Congress MLAs created a ruckus in the House.

The Speaker went ahead with his adjournment ruling while Congress legislature party leader Okram Ibobi Singh was speaking on the party’s demand for a five-day extension.

"During the Assembly business advisory committee meeting, I had suggested having a five-day session for meaningful discussions. It was turned down," Mr Singh said, adding that many things are not clear. "If it is a normal session, a 15-day notice should be given. If it is a special session, only urgent matters could be discussed."

Veteran Congress politician Okram Joy said: "The one-day session was not in the interest of the people but purely in the interest of the elected members. If there is no session within six months, there will be no BJP-led government. The six-month deadline ends on September 2."

Mr Joy termed the adjourned session a dark chapter in the political history of Manipur.

Earlier, Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh, in his address, said, "With great sorrow, we condole the deaths of those killed in the violence. In times like these, words seem inefficient for those who have lost their loved ones in the strife."

The House resolved that all differences should be addressed through dialogue and peaceful means for communal harmony in the state.

The House also lauded the success of the Chandrayaan-3 moon mission and congratulated scientist N. Raghu Singh, who is from Manipur and was on the Isro team that led the mission.

Soon after, the Congress MLAs started shouting "stop mockery, let's save democracy" from their seats. The Speaker urged the Opposition MLAs to sit down and maintain decorum, but the ruckus continued. Amid the din, the Speaker adjourned the House for 30 minutes.

When the House reassembled, the Congress MLAs continued with their protest, following which the Speaker ruled that it was not possible to continue with the session amid the ruckus and adjourned the proceedings sine die.

It is significant that the state government had last month recommended a session by August 21, but later revised it to August 28 after not getting a green light from the Raj Bhavan. Last week, the chief minister's office announced that the Assembly will reconvene on August 29.

The previous Assembly session was held in March and according to the norms, a session must be held within six months.

Most of the Kuki MLAs, regardless of party affiliations, skipped the session over safety concerns.

The Committee on Tribal Unity and the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum had recently denounced the convening of the session, saying that the present situation was not suitable for the Kuki-Zo MLAs to attend.

On Tuesday morning, one person was killed and another injured in heavy firing between two groups at Narainsena in Bishnupur district, police said.

Officials said a village defence volunteer, who was staying at a relief camp, was killed when a bomb suddenly exploded. Another person was hit on the shoulder by a bullet and has been admitted to a hospital in Imphal, officials said, adding that his condition is stable.

Meanwhile, four militants belonging to different outfits were arrested in separate operations and arms and ammunition were seized from them, police said on Tuesday.

During search operations, police teams nabbed one insurgent each of the NSCN(I-M) and the People's Liberation Army and two overground workers of Kangleipak Communist Party (Lamyanba Khuman faction) from Imphal East and Bishnupur districts, a police statement said.

Six firearms, five cartridges and two explosives were also seized during the operations. Search operations were conducted by security forces in fringe and vulnerable areas of the five valley districts, it said.