The Manipur Assembly.
Credit: Manipur Legislative Assembly website
A vital one-day session of the Manipur Assembly on Tuesday will hold a discussion on the prevailing situation in the state but at least 10 Kuki MLAs are likely to skip the session over safety concerns.
The session was convened after the Opposition Congress and a few MLAs belonging to the ruling BJP raised the demand that the issues concerning the present Meitei-Kuki conflict should be discussed in the Assembly. This will be the first session of the Assembly since the state went into a turmoil nearly four months ago.
The previous Assembly session was held in March and according to the norms, one Assembly session must be held every six months. Governor Anusuiya Uikey convened the one-day Monsoon Session of the Assembly following recommendations twice by the State Cabinet.
Sources in the BJP said the government would table in the House the steps taken to restore normalcy and efforts for the rehabilitation of those affected by the violence. The government would also try to pass some resolutions regarding the steps to be taken to end the conflict.
The Opposition Congress, on the other hand, is likely to target Chief Minister N Biren Singh and the BJP government for their alleged failure to end the conflict, which has been raging for nearly four months.
MLAs belonging to Naga People's Front (NPF) and the National People's Party (NPP), who are also with the government, are likely to attend the session. BJP has 34 MLAs in the House of 60. Two MLAs belonging to the Kuki People's Alliance had recently withdrawn support from the Biren Singh government.
More than 160 people have died and over 60,000 others have been displaced due to the violence between the majority Meitei and Kuki tribes since May 3. The violence started over the tribal groups' opposition to the move to accord ST status to the Meiteis.
Kukis oppose the session:
The 10 Kuki MLAs, including seven belonging to BJP, have decided to skip the Assembly session stating that Imphal Valley has become a "valley of death" for the Kuki-Zomi communities.
They cited the attack on one of the Kuki MLAs, Vungzagin Valte, by "Meitei extremists" on May 4 in Imphal, when he was returning after meeting the CM.
Several organisations representing the Kuki-Zomi communities also expressed opposition to the Assembly session saying that CM N Biren Singh must resign first before the session is convened. They alleged that Singh was directly involved in the plot for "ethnic cleansing" of the Kukis.