Muscle and influence behind the guns The Power of Poppy

It came at that point of time when Manipur was literally reeling under the impact of poppy people-an aphorism neatly summed up by the series of poems that appeared every Sunday in the English edition of The Sangai Express. The Power of Poppy first hit the pages of this newspaper on September 3, 2023, when Manipur was being literally bled from the guns and bullets procured with poppy power. And for two years the poem, mostly not exceeding eight lines appeared every Sunday, making an impact as profound, if not more, as the incisive words that came from the frontrunners against the drug menace. In six or eight lines, the series of poems that ran for two years managed to paint the havoc that  the poppy people managed to create as vividly as words can and credit for this should go to retired Head of Department of Sociology in Manipur University Professor Rajendra Kshetri. Not the first time that the said Professor has touched on subjects that strike a deep chord with The Sangai Express for it was not so long back that Nambul River was brought to the consciousness of the people with yet another series of poems, Cry of a Dying River. As the writer has decided, the curtain has been drawn on The Power of Poppy, after the 100th poem, which greeted the readers and  tugged at the conscience of the people every Sunday morning, and in the two years, it should have stirred the minds of the people. In flagging the poppy people, the Power of Poppy also addressed the powers that be, the people in positions of power and influence who in one way or the other nurtured the power drawn from the strength of the poppy plants. This is a powerful statement told effectively in just 6/8 lines for two years and if at all Manipur has wisened up to the menace of the power flowing through the pods or flowers of the poppy then one should not forget the impact of The Power of Poppy. Ever since Manipur went up in flames in the evening of May 3, 2023, The Sangai Express has received and published numerous articles, pieces in which concerned writers and citizens spelt out their thoughts and their positions and The Power of Poppy will certainly stand right up there at the top. This is where one would like to see the Government take the cry against the drugs cartel with the seriousness it deserves. And any talk on the drugs cartel should start with a keen study and understanding of how large parts of the hills in Manipur have been turned into poppy fields. The then popular Government led by the BJP initiated the War on Drugs campaign and the natural question is on the follow up course of action that has been taken up.
It should not be forgotten that the War on Drugs campaign needs to be made more than a slogan and it has certainly drawn the attention of the people. Long before Manipur went up in flames on May 3, 2023, a number of concerned, well meaning people had started talking about the impact of climate change and this does not necessarily mean the climate activists, but the public starting from the farmers, the tillers of the soil who depend on the rain to plant their crops. Same thing goes for the many fish farmers who depend on the annual monsoon to fill up their ponds. The recent flash floods that wreaked havoc in the valley districts of Manipur is also more than indicative of the negative impacts of large scale deforestation. The drying up of natural wells and waterholes in the hill districts, the swollen rivers during any rain as well as when they go dry etc are all linked to the drastic change in forest cover. Such a change becomes a possibility only when large tracts of greens are cut and in its places come the poppy plants, which demand chemical fertilisers. And the impact of chemicals on the soil is well known. A series of poems it was and one which stretched on for two years, greeting the readers every Sunday, and it told a profound story on the menace wreaked by poppy power, the gun and bullet power financed by poppy cultivation. The Power of Poppy certainly hit the right chord with Manipur.