Representative image.

GUWAHATI: A few Congress members on Wednesday staged a walkout from the assembly after speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami refused legislators Sherman Ali Ahmed and Jakir Hussain Sikdar to raise an adjournment motion on the plight of Rohingyas .

Thousands of Rohingyas, minority Muslims in the Rakhine state of of Myanmar, are fleeing their country after being caught in a violent ethnic conflict. The issue came up at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a visit to Myanmar.

Human rights organisations want the Prime Minister to urge the Myanmar government to address the problem. With the northeast sharing a 1643-km-long international border with Myanmar, the exodus of Rohingyas has also become an issue in the region.

Thousands of displaced Rohingyas had also entered Bangladesh where the shelter camps are already overcrowded. In the assembly, both Ahmed and Sikdar of Congress gave notice for an adjournment motion to discuss the Rohingya issue. The speaker, however, did not allow them to raise the issue on Rohingyas, saying the assembly was not the forum to discuss the matter.

Even as Ahmed insisted on raising the issue, Goswami said his ruling was final and asked him to allow the proceedings of the house. Later, Congress legislator Abdul Khaleque staged a walkout saying that it was in protest against the speaker’s decision. Other Congress MLAs also followed suit. But other party legislators, including Rakibul Hussain, Rekibuddin Ahmed and Nazrul Islam, remained seated for some time.

