Many people point fingers at the petition by a Meitei organisation and subsequent direction by the High Court to the state government to recommend inclusion of Meitei in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list as the main reason for the present communal conflict and violence. Even the Union Home Minister Amit Shah said so. Well, it may have served as the flashpoint or the trigger. However, there are deeper reasons behind the present conflict and widespread poppy cultivation in the hills is one of them.
Earlier, we had speculated on the possibility of the shift of poppy cultivation in areas of Manipur as a direct fallout of the diminishing trend in the Golden Triangle and Myanmar, and that we should be looking for the factors leading to upsurge in poppy cultivation in the hill areas of Manipur in recent times. Poppy cultivation was found in small pockets of the hills bordering Myanmar about two decades ago by journalists.
Word then was that, the poppy cultivators of the state sell their opium produce to small-time drug smugglers who operate mobile drug manufacturing units across the border. Now, poppy cultivation is widespread in the hills of Manipur and several factors could have contributed to such an explosion. Many thought that it was poor villagers who had resorted to poppy cultivation as a ‘cash crop’ yielding easy money and quick dividends.
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According to investigating agencies, poppy cultivation is rampant in Manipur as the same fetches more money than other crops and the farmers are also supported by the drug mafia and the cross-border network of illegal drug traders. As regards the poor villagers who toil in the poppy fields, it is just another day’s work. For them, it does not matter whether it is poppy or any other crop as long as they get the wages howsoever meagre it may be. Recent investigations have revealed the involvement of some SoO groups in the poppy business. Who knows, these groups may have been big-time participants in the nexus of drug mafia.
Earlier, only organic farming was practised in the hills and there was no place for chemical fertilizers. Today, with the introduction of poppy cultivation there has been rampant use of chemical fertilizers which has led to degradation of soil fertility and pollution of water besides deforestation. Areas where poppy was cultivated became no longer suitable for other crops and any effort for substituting with alternative crops. And it became frustrating. This led to the state government to combining the War on Drugs campaign along with anti-deforestation drive in areas where poppy cultivation is widespread, especially in Kuki-Chin dominated areas. One remembers the episode of Kuki CSOs and villagers blocking the efforts of Forest department in its tree plantation drives in Nongmaiching hill range, Kangpokpi district and Thangjing hill ranges.
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We also remember the particular instance of certain hill-based organisations hailing the acquittal of Lhukhosei Zou while also cautioning anti-drug campaigners not to press the issue of furthering the case. Zou was acquitted on December 17, 2020 by the NDPS Special Court, Manipur even as a huge drug seizure was made from the premises of his official residence. The most recent case is the seizure of 77 gunny bags of poppy seeds by a combined team of NAB and state police from the Mantripukhri residence of one Paojangam Khongsai @ Apao who is believed to be a member of an international drug cartel.
So, we can safely assume that the anti-drug campaign led by the government and the poppy business is one of the basic reasons of the present conflict. On the other hand, one needs to go deeper into the money trail. It is not some Tom Dick and Harry but some powerful interests who could move mountains to organise widespread cultivation of poppy and who has the clout and money to move the produce from poppy to various corners of the country and beyond.
