Finally, special assembly session on the cards
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: July 29, 2023 -

THE announcement made by Information and Public Relations minister Dr Sapam Ranjan on Thursday that a special assembly session would be convened by the third week of August might help in tapering off the persistent demand and outcries by both the opposition political parties and the civil society organisations against the government’s apparent reluctance to deliberate over the prevailing crisis in Manipur but resolution, if any, adopted by the house is unlikely to bring an end to the conflict situation anytime soon as the Kuki militants seem to have firmly resolved to compel the government of Manipur cede to the demand for separate administration, formally raised by the 10 Kuki MLAs.

Tentative scheduling of the special session in mid-August seems part of the government’s tactics to buy some time to prepare for tackling the opposition members’ imminent tirade against the establishment’s failure to contain the violence.

It also possible that the government is eager to wait and watch outcome of the Manipur issue in the on-going monsoon session of the parliament, where the viral video of two Kuki women paraded naked by an unruly mob in a peripheral village between Kangpokpi and Thoubal districts has been creating a storm and leading to frequent disruptions of the national assembly.

In view of the unabated attacks on Meetei villages, opposition parties as well as handful of civil societies have been demanding immediate summoning of the assembly session and facilitating comprehensive discussion on the unrest situation but to no avail till the announcement made on Thursday for reasons best known to the government.

It is worth mentioning here that various CSOs, meira paibi groups and public including the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity and Federation of Civil Society Organisations have long been demanding the state government to conduct a special assembly session to discuss the current crisis in the state, take a united decision and forward the same to the union government.

As such, minister Spam Ranjan formally announcing the government’s decision to facilitate debate on the conflict situation gripping Manipur underscores that it is not adverse to the idea of thorough discussion on the issue and possibly work out collectively strategy to counter the narrative that the violence is fallout of the establishment’s anti-Kuki policy.

Ever since the violence broke out, there has been persistent campaigns through the national media and social media platforms that the Kuki community is being discriminated upon by the Meetei-centric government consequently diluting the core issues of widespread poppy plantations, majority of which fall in Kuki-populated hill areas, illegal immigration and encroachment in protected and reserved forest areas.

There might be differences of opinion and ideology between the ruling and the opposition legislators but neither should undermine the fact that failure to stop the poppy menace and check the unauthorised infiltration will be perilous for the future generations and to the environment.

Upholding the territorial integrity is another issue that the 50 remaining MLAs shall have to make their stand clear and convey the same to the central government as the latter seems to be clueless on how to wriggle out of the Manipur tangle.