Manipur Assembly adjourned sine die after ruckus by Congress MLAs

Imphal: The one-day session of the Manipur Assembly was adjourned sine die within an hour of commencement after Congress MLAs created a ruckus demanding that the session be extended to five days.

The opposition MLAs led by former chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh said one day was not enough to discuss the prevailing situation in the ethnic strife-torn state.

All the 10 Kuki MLAs were absent from the House.

The proceedings began at 11 am with two-minute silence for those killed in the ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kukis that began on May 3.

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 successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon and congratulated scientist N Raghu Singh, who is from Manipur and was in the ISRO team that led the mission.

Soon after, Congress MLAs started shouting "Stop mockery, let's save democracy" from their seats and demanded that a five-day session be held to discuss the situation in the state.

Speaker Th Satyabrata Singh urged the opposition MLAs to sit down but they continued with the ruckus, following which he adjourned the House for 30 minutes.

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

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

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

The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) and the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) had recently denounced the convening of the session saying the present situation is not conducive for Kuki-Zo MLAs to attend it.

In a joint statement on Sunday, both organisations said considering the complete breakdown of law and order and the failure of the state government to protect the lives of the common people and officials, convening the session "is devoid of logic and rationality." On Saturday, former Manipur chief minister and Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh had said the session is an eyewash and not in public interest.

More than 160 people lost their lives and several hundreds were injured since ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3.