Amid efforts to end Meitei-Kuki conflict, Manipur resume drive against poppy cultivation on the hills

Kuki organisations say the Manipur government and the Meitei organisations are trying to target the Kukis alleging their involvement in drugs trade for ethnic cleansing against the community.

Guwahati: Amid efforts to end the Meitei-Kuki conflict, security forces in Manipur have resumed the drive against illegal poppy cultivation mainly in the hill districts--something which, according to the state government, was a major trigger of the ongoing conflict.

Special squads comprising personnel of Assam Rifles, CRPF, the state police and forest department have launched the drive and have destroyed poppy plantations, mainly in Kuki-dominated Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Naga-dominated Ukhrul district.

Official sources told DH on Sunday that more than 100 acres of poppy fields have been destroyed in the three districts since December. "The drive was launched based on data fetched through satellite imagery and the local intelligence inputs. A large area of poppy cultivation has been destroyed and the drive is being intensified every day," said the source.

"The central forces are accompanying the teams to prevent possible attacks by those involved in the illegal drugs business." 

The major success during the drive includes destruction of 25 acres of poppy plantation in Y Langkhong village in Kangpokpi district on Saturday and another 4.8 acres at Haopi Mollen hill range under Sangaikot police station in Churachandpur district.

The Assam Rifles on January 16 seized drugs worth Rs. 62 crores from Mata village in Churachandpur and arrested two persons including a woman. The drugs included brown sugar worth Rs. 12 crores and Yaba tablets priced around Rs. 50 crores. The drugs were on their way from Myanmar to Churachandpur, Assam Rifles said in a statement on Friday. 

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change informed the Lok Sabha last month that an estimated 45.68 sqkm, or around 11,288 acres of land were found under illegal poppy cultivation in Manipur during 2023-24. The Ministry identified Kangpokpi having the largest area of 17.49sqkm (4,322 acres) under poppy cultivation followed by Naga-dominated Senapati and Ukhrul.

The BJP-led Manipur government including CM N. Biren Singh repeatedly said that his government's "war on drugs" campaign launched in 2018-19 was a major trigger of the conflict and was part of a "conspiracy" to stop the drive against illegal poppy and other drugs.

The CM alleged involvement of drug lords based out in neighbouring Myanmar in the trafficking. Meitei organisations too have demanded a crackdown against illegal poppy cultivation, mainly in the Kuki-dominated areas alleging involvement of the Kuki insurgents in drug trafficking. Several Kuki organisations, on the other hand, countered such allegations saying the Manipur government and the Meitei organisations are trying to target the Kukis alleging their involvement in drugs trade and carry out an ethnic cleansing against the community.