The one-day session of the Manipur Assembly, held on Tuesday for the first time since ethnic clashes broke out in the state on May 3, lasted just 11 minutes before the Speaker adjourned the session amid protests on the floor of the House.

At the beginning of the session, soon after Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata took his seat, Congress Legislature Party leader and former CM Okram Ibobi Singh protested the nature of the session.

“One day was not enough to discuss the prevailing situation in the ethnic strife-torn state. Is it (the session) an emergency or short notice? We are confused. There is no rule of law in the land,” he said.

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“This is a mockery. Let us save democracy, let us save the Constitution,” Ibobi Singh shouted, and all the five Congress MLAs joined him in the protest, shouting slogans and holding placards, PTI reported.

Meanwhile, all the 10 Kuki MLAs were absent from the House.

The proceedings began at 11 am with a two-minute silence for those killed in the ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kukis that began on May 3.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh, in his address, said, “With great sorrow, we condole the deaths of those killed in the violence. In times like these, words seem inefficient for those who have lost their loved ones in the strife.” The House resolved that all differences should be addressed through dialogue and peaceful means for communal harmony in the state, PTI reported.

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The House also lauded the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on Moon and congratulated scientist N Raghu Singh, who is from Manipur and was in ISRO team that led the mission.

Soon after, Congress MLAs started shouting “stop mockery, let’s save democracy” from their seats and demanded that a five-day session be held for discussing the situation in the state.

Speaker Th Satyabrata Singh urged the opposition MLAs to sit down but they continued with the ruckus, following which he adjourned the House for 30 minutes.

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As the House reassembled, the Congress MLAs continued with their protest, following which the Speaker, while stating that it was not possible to continue with the session amid the ruckus, adjourned the proceedings sine die.

The state government had last month recommended a session by August 21, but later revised it to August 28 on not getting a green light from the Raj Bhavan. Last week, the chief minister’s office announced that the assembly will reconvene from August 29.

The previous assembly session was held in March and according to the norms, a session must be held every six months.

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The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) and the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) had recently denounced the convening of the session saying the present situation is not conducive for Kuki-Zo MLAs to attend it.

More than 160 people have lost their lives and several hundreds have been injured since ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3.

(With inputs from PTI)