A farce of an Assembly session

If what has been happening in Manipur in the last three months is tragic, the response of the state Assembly to the events is nothing less than farcical. The Constitution mandates that an Assembly has to hold a session within six months of the conclusion of its previous session. The Manipur Assembly held a session last week to satisfy this condition as the six-month deadline would end on September 2. Governor Anusuiya Uikey had inexplicably refused to summon the session, though the state cabinet had sought it weeks ago, but suddenly notified a one-day session to be held on August 29. There are no answers to the questions raised about the Governor’s conduct, just as there are no good answers for the serious questions about the situation in the state, including the handling of it by both the state and the central governments. 

Ten Kuki-Zomi MLAs, including seven from the ruling BJP, did not attend the session as they had communicated to the Governor their inability to travel to the Meitei-dominated Imphal for security reasons. Chief Minister Biren Singh had assured them of security, but they rejected his promise of protection. That shows not only the poor security situation in the state but also the deep distrust between the Kuki and the Meitei communities even within the ruling party. The Assembly session was just a perfunctory one and lasted only 48 minutes. The business of the House was for only 10 minutes, and the House was adjourned sine die. It had many important issues related to the situation in the state to discuss, like the continuing violence, investigation and prosecution of cases registered till now, rehabilitation of victims and displaced persons, recovery of looted weapons and, above all, ways and means to restore normalcy in the state. It did not discuss any of these issues. The Chief Minister said the House could not discuss the situation in the state because it was sub-judice. A resolution calling for peace in the state was said to have been passed, but the Opposition claimed that it was not introduced in the House. The Chief Minister, however, thanked ISRO and the Prime Minister for the successful moon mission. 

The farcical session and the scanty proceedings in the House demonstrate everything that has gone wrong in the state: the breakdown of the constitutional machinery, the loss of legitimacy and effectiveness of the government, the growing gap among communities and, above all, the failure and inability of the state’s highest democratic forum to address the situation. No democratic institution functions well in Manipur. When institutions fail, people lose trust in them.