Going on the offensive against poppy Guns backing the drug trade
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Certain things are clear. Of the many armed groups operating in the hills of Manipur, the Kamson led Zeliangrong United Front is one of the few which has gone on the offensive against poppy plantations. Another point that is also crystal clear for all to see and register in their minds is the fact that some armed groups are backing or are involved in the act of poppy plantations. It also stands that there are certain frontal groups of these armed groups behind the poppy plantations which will go out of their way to defend the very act of planting and nurturing poppy. These observations should also partly answer the question which The Sangai Express has been raising for years now, that is who finances the poppy plantation, who comes to buy the poppy harvests, who markets them, in fact the whole ring of who finances the poppy cultivation and in the process who are behind the huge drug smuggling racket. This should also partly answer why the Government machineries have never been able to go beyond the act of picking up some petty drug pushers and the dead end that follows whenever anyone is caught with drugs worth crores of rupees. That an armed organisation like the Kamson led ZUF has taken it upon itself to go against poppy plantation is a reflection of the massive shortfalls in the anti-poppy drive launched by the Government under its ‘War on Drugs’ slogan. And this is not the first time that the said outfit has made it to the news for going on the offensive against poppy cultivation underlining the observation underlined just above. It was with a reason why The Sangai Express in an earlier commentary here had noted the active participation of the Assam Rifles in the anti-poppy plantation drive now for in earlier interactives with the top rung officials of the said paramilitary force, one line maintained by them was, ‘We give information to the State Government, but it is not our mandated job to go after poppy plantation.’ This is where the active role taken up by the ZUF against poppy plantation is noteworthy, for in many ways it is reflective of the fact that the Government agencies are falling short in proceeding with the drive against poppy plantation. It would also help Manipur and her people in knowing the areas under poppy plantation that have been razed to the ground. Has the drive against poppy plantation become more intensive under the President’s Rule regime or is it the same as when Manipur was under a popularly elected Government ? How many people have been arrested in connection with poppy plantation, after Manipur launched the War on Drugs campaign in 2018 ? Official figures on the posers raised here would certainly go some way in keeping the people informed of the job done by the Government agencies.
It was not so long back that the Kang-pokpi based Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) had announced for one and all to hear and read that poppy plantation would no longer be allowed in Kangpokpi district. But what about the plantation that are already standing ? Does this mean that harvesting the poppy already planted and standing would be allowed unhindered ? Does this mean that poppy plantations have been going on at Kangpokpi with the full knowledge and ‘permission’ of CoTU ? Or else how can CoTU be in a position to say that poppy plantation would no longer be allowed ? CoTU has accused the ZUF (armed miscreants according to them) of opening fire at a village and so does this mean that the target of the ZUF cadres was not the poppy plantations but the village ? Something just does not add up and if CoTU was sincere in earlier announcing that no poppy plantation would be allowed, then it should have extended support to the destruction drive. The drug trade, starting from poppy plantation to the financing aspect, the distribution network of the drugs run deep and it is this which the Government should bust. Manipur wants to see the Government give meaning and substance to the War on Drugs campaign, and the first step towards this should be to move beyond arresting a drug pusher here and there, but to go after the big guns. For starters Manipur would certainly love to hear the follow up story on the arrest of two persons from Churachandpur with 7.3 Kgs of heroin. The dots that connect the news on the confrontation between ZUF cadres and cadres of other outfits during an anti-poppy drive and the arrest of the two persons with a huge drug consignment should be clear to all.
It was not so long back that the Kang-pokpi based Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) had announced for one and all to hear and read that poppy plantation would no longer be allowed in Kangpokpi district. But what about the plantation that are already standing ? Does this mean that harvesting the poppy already planted and standing would be allowed unhindered ? Does this mean that poppy plantations have been going on at Kangpokpi with the full knowledge and ‘permission’ of CoTU ? Or else how can CoTU be in a position to say that poppy plantation would no longer be allowed ? CoTU has accused the ZUF (armed miscreants according to them) of opening fire at a village and so does this mean that the target of the ZUF cadres was not the poppy plantations but the village ? Something just does not add up and if CoTU was sincere in earlier announcing that no poppy plantation would be allowed, then it should have extended support to the destruction drive. The drug trade, starting from poppy plantation to the financing aspect, the distribution network of the drugs run deep and it is this which the Government should bust. Manipur wants to see the Government give meaning and substance to the War on Drugs campaign, and the first step towards this should be to move beyond arresting a drug pusher here and there, but to go after the big guns. For starters Manipur would certainly love to hear the follow up story on the arrest of two persons from Churachandpur with 7.3 Kgs of heroin. The dots that connect the news on the confrontation between ZUF cadres and cadres of other outfits during an anti-poppy drive and the arrest of the two persons with a huge drug consignment should be clear to all.