Torch rally in Imphal demanding special assembly session

Hundreds of women took out torch rallies across the Imphal valley, demanding that a special session of the Manipur assembly be convened before the monsoon session of Parliament ends.

The rallies were held around 9.30 pm on Wednesday at 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 the demand for separate administration by Kuki groups, and for the implementation of NRC to identify "illegal" immigrants in the state and deport them.

The Manipur cabinet last week recommended Governor Anusuiya Uikey to convene a session of the assembly from August 21.

The previous assembly session was held in March, and violence broke out in the state in May.

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

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.