Women Conduct Torch Rally In Imphal Demanding Special Session Of Manipur Assembly

Hundreds of women took out torch rallies through Imphal valley, demanding that a special session of the Manipur assembly be called before Parliament’s monsoon session concludes.

The rallies took place on Wednesday around 9.30 p.m. in Keisampat, Keisamthong, and Kwakeithel in Imphal West district, and Wangkhei and Kongba in Imphal East district.

“In the assembly session, the government should pass a resolution to protect the state’s territorial integrity and send it to Parliament while it is still in session,” Ingudam Babita, one of the participants of the rally, told reporters at Wangkhei.

The women also raised slogans against Kuki organizations’ demand for separate administration and for NRC implementation to identify and expel “illegal” immigrants in the state.

The Manipur cabinet this week recommended that Governor Anusuiya Uikey call an assembly session on August 21.

Last Saturday, in Imphal valley a 24-hour mass strike was called by the Meitei apex group–the Coordinating Committee of 27 Assembly constituencies in Manipur–demanding a special session of the assembly.

The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an umbrella body of several Imphal-based civil society organisations, had also announced on August 6 a “boycott of the state government” for its failure to convene an emergency session of the assembly and inept handling of the ongoing unrest in the state, which has so far claimed over 160 lives.

With Agency Inputs

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