Opposition parties disrupt India’s Parliament for 2nd day to protest ethnic violence in northeast

By ASHOK SHARMA
Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — Deadly ethnic clashes in India’s northeast have rocked the country’s Parliament for a second straight day, with the opposition blocking proceedings and demanding the sacking of the top elected official of Manipur state, where more than 130 people have been killed since early May. The official belongs to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party. The opposition demanded that all other parliamentary business be postponed and that a debate be launched on the violence, starting with a statement by Modi. The government refused the demand and presiding officer Rajendra Aggarwal adjourned the lower house of Parliament until Monday. The near-civil war in Manipur was sparked when a Christian tribal group protested a demand by Hindus for a special status.