Committing a crime to avoid a crisis
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: August 30, 2023 -

EVEN though the BJP government led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh may have been managed to avoid a constitutional crisis in the strife-torn northeastern state of Manipur for the time being and save itself from the ignominy of facing dissolution with the hurried last minute arrangement of convening the 4th session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly for just one day on August 29, this session will, however, be remembered as one of the most useless state assembly sessions ever convened in the democratic history of not only the state and the country, but also of the nations across the globe which believe in the true democratic principles of governing the people.

The single-day session had been summoned much to the disappointment of the opposition parties and the public who want a longer duration assembly session to facilitate discussion of the issues besetting the state thoroughly.

Earlier, many political parties and those who are critical of the working or non-working of the government had denounced convening of the assembly session for just one day when the state is experiencing one of the worst communal crises as 'pointless' and 'a blot on democracy'.

Questioning the purpose of convening such a short assembly session when there are so many important things to discuss, the main opposition party, Congress had even charged the incumbent government with flouting all democratic norms and rules and cautioned that the state government may face a difficult situation if someone files petition in the Supreme Court against the violation of the Constitution.

The pointlessness of convening such a short assembly session that serves no public interest other than serving the purpose of the state government to save its own skin by avoiding a constitutional crisis has come to the fore with all its ugly face when it was adjourned indefinitely even before proper commencement of the business proceedings of the house for the day.

After the obituary references, when Chief Minister N Biren started reading out the resolution of his government, members in the opposition bench, who were not happy with the alleged failure of the government to come up with some concrete measures for resolving the current crisis in the state, were upon their feet demanding to know why the points they have put up for discussion in the house during the Business Advisory Committee were not honoured.

The points put up were related to safeguarding the state, they said and questioned why their rights to raise questions in the house have been curtailed by convening an assembly session for just one day when the state is going through a crisis that would have serious implications.

Following this commotion, the Speaker of the House simply thought it best to adjourn the session indefinitely instead of making any effort to put the house in order for allowing further business proceedings to go on uninterrupted.

This is deprivation of a rare opportunity not only for the members in the opposition bench who have every right to raise posers over any act of commission and omission committed by the government but also for the general public who have suffered long enough and were looking forward to the government to come up with some concrete measures for putting an end to the communal crisis that is besieging the state for nearly four months now.

Convening an assembly session for just one day only in total contrast to what the people wanted and then adjourning the session hastily by the Speaker even before its proper commencement is surely not what anyone would call the conduct of a responsible government.

This is a democratic crime more serious than the constitutional crisis that the BJP government led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh has been trying everything possible in its power to avoid.