House session differed; not required at the moment, says Govt
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 14 2018: A Cabinet meeting held today decided to postpone the State Assembly session scheduled on August 16 .

The State Government was planning to extend the State Assembly session which was adjourned sine die since July 23 by another day on August 10 which was deferred to August 16 .

Notably, the Government decided to convene a session of the State Assembly to deliberate on the changing dynamics of the Framework Agreement signed between the Government of India and NSCN-IM on August 3, 2015 .

Speaking to media persons this evening, Government spokesman Th Biswajit said that a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister N Biren today decided to postpone the proposed Assembly session as it is unnecessary to discuss the Framework Agreement at the moment.

Yet, the Government is still open to the idea of holding a House session to discuss the Framework Agreement any time, if necessary, Biswajit said.

The Government planned to convene an Assembly session on August 10 considering the changing dynamics of the Framework Agreement and the growing anxiety among the people about possible disintegration of Manipur.

Earlier, the Assembly session held on July 23 reaffirmed the resolution adopted earlier in connection with the integrity of Manipur and the sanctity of its territorial boundary.

The resolution adopted by the State Assembly on July 23 reads, "This House unanimously resolves to reiterate the Resolution No 120 passed by the House on December 22, 2017 for amendment of Article 3 of the Constitution of India by incorporating that prior consent of the State Legislature of the affected State(s) shall be mandatory while forming new State or names of existing States and also to request the Government of India to make the contents of the Framework Agreement available to the Government of Manipur and there shall not be any change in the administrative set up of the State of Manipur and not to grant any kind of autonomy to any part of the State, as a result of the Framework Agreement leading to resolution of Naga political issue" .

In spite of this resolution, the State Government planned to convene a House session on August 16 following reports in social media that a session of the Parliament may be held on the same day and something may done with regard to the Naga issue, Biswajit said.

But it turned out that the reports circulated in social media were rumours and there is nothing to be worried about at the moment.

Subsequently, the Cabinet meeting held today decided to defer the Assembly session scheduled on August 16, he said.

Moreover, there is no proposal at present to discuss the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Home Affairs' report on the Naga peace talk at the Parliament.

As such, no Bill related to the matter would be passed.

That is why, the proposed Assembly session has been postponed, asserted the Government spokesman.

The report tabled by the committee headed by Congress MP P Chidambaram clearly states that any agreement that may be finally arrived at between Government of India and NSCN-IM must allay the fears of the stake holders in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam and the State Governments must be kept abreast with the emerging dynamics of the talks, he pointed out.

It would be wrong on the part of the people to be unduly panicky on the presumption that the Framework Agreement will affect the integrity and boundary of Manipur and the Central Government will take a final decision without sharing any information with the State Government, Biswajit said.

Moreover, dismissing the Prime Minister's assurance on the issue as untrustworthy would be wrong, he continued.

When a team of Ministers and MLAs led by Chief Minister N Biren met Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, he stated that he would keep the assurance given to the people of Manipur.

In view of the Prime Minister's assurance, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs' recommendation and the unlikelihood of striking any final deal at present, there is no need for convening any Assembly session in haste, he added.

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