Crucial One-Day Manipur Assembly Session Today, Kuki MLAs Likely To Skip

Imphal: The crucial one-day session of the Manipur Assembly will take place on Tuesday during which a discussion on the state's prevailing situation of ethnic strife will be held, though most of the Kuki MLAs, regardless of party affiliations, are likely to skip the session over safety concerns. Six of the ten MLAs from Kuki-dominated areas have already sought leave of absence from the Speaker of the assembly.

Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh announced on Saturday that the fourth session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly will take place on August 29, focusing on the current state of affairs. Several resolutions related to the ethnic crisis could be introduced during the session, news agency IANS cited BJP sources as saying.

On the recommendations of the state cabinet, Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey called for the Monsoon Session of the state assembly on (Tuesday) August 29. This move follows demands from the primary opposition party, the Congress, and various other organisations, urging the assembly to convene and deliberate on the ongoing ethnic turmoil.

The government 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 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 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.

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 said the session is an eyewash and not in the public interest. More than 160 people lost their lives and several hundreds were injured since ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3.