Manipur cabinet recommends governor to summon assembly session on Aug 21

PTI, Imphal  4 Aug 2023 : The Manipur cabinet on Friday asked Governor Anusuiya Uikey to convene a session of the Manipur assembly from August 21.

A brief notification today said, “The State Cabinet has recommended to the Hon’ble Governor of Manipur for summoning the 4th session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly on the 21st August, 2023.” Among others, Congress in Manipur had requested Governor Uikey to convene an emergency session of the Assembly to discuss the “ongoing unprecedented turmoil” in the state.

“The Assembly is the most appropriate forum to discuss the situation and get suggestions on how to restore peace in the state rocked by ethnic strife since early May,” five Congress MLAs including CLP leader Okram Ibobi Singh said in a letter to the Governor last month.

More than 160 people lost their lives and several hundred were injured since the ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3, after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals — Nagas and Kukis — constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts.