War on Drugs campaign since 2018 Kingpins still at large
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Nine square kilometre or 900 hectares of poppy plantations razed to the ground in two months, that is from January 1, 2026 to February 28, 2026. The drive falls perfectly in line with the War on Drugs campaign launched by the State Government at the latter part of 2018, but, and this is a crucial but, the question is, how many have been actually pulled up and penalised for poppy plantation ? Apart from a village chief or two or three, and some tillers of the land, Manipur has not heard much of any significant arrest being made for poppy cultivation. Cut the standing poppy plants and then wait for the next planting season, seems to be the cycle that the Government has adopted since 2018. One wonders how much this would really help to give teeth and substance of the slogan ‘War on Drugs’. In the eight years that the campaign against drugs was launched, it is only recently that one hears of the Central security forces, particularly the Assam Rifles, jumping in and taking a role in destroying the poppy plantations, while earlier the line was, ‘we do inform the State Government about the existing poppy plantations. It is not in our brief to go after the poppy plantations.’ This was the line maintained by the top ranking officials of the Assam Rifles during any interaction with Editors of the Imphal based newspapers, leaving many to wonder whether a specific directive is indeed needed to go after the poppy plantations. This was in the recent past, but the question still remains on why the State Government has so far not been able to pull up anyone in consonance with the intensity that poppy plantations have been razed to the ground. Surely something much more needs to be done to give substance and meaning to the War on Drugs. Almost every single day Imphal based newspapers carry reports of poppy plantations being razed to the ground, but it starts and ends there, with no follow up action, such as on whether anyone has been arrested or not. Moreover it is more than obvious that the poppy farmers, the people actually responsible for tilling the soil and planting the poppy plants are just a small cog in the wheel of the drug trade. Why has the Government never gone beyond destroying the poppy plantations and try to find out who are the people financing the poppy plantations ? Who takes the harvested crop ? The next logical extension is obviously, who markets the harvested crop ? Where are the persons who buy the harvested crops based ? These are questions which should follow, a line which any line of cracking down on drugs necessitates, but so far the Government seems to have overlooked these crucial points. Reports coming from international publications point to the growing poppy plantations on the Indo-Myanmar border and how poppy plantations in this region has outstripped the areas in the infamous Golden Crescent in Afghanistan. For reasons obvious only to itself, the Government has preferred to keep mum over this, while trumpeting the War on Drugs as a step taken up on behalf of the people.
For years The Sangai Express has been prodding on why the War on Drugs campaign has always fallen short of unmasking the big names. Many cases have also been recalled and pointed out in this column with the question why no further report or news have come. And the question continues to hang. It has been like this for 8 years now and no answer is expected, but the question will continue to be raised. The Government will have to acknowledge that arresting one or two persons here at some of the more infamous areas in Imphal is nothing much more than pulling up some pushers. And for those arrested with huge consignments, nothing is heard about them once they are arrested and brought before the Court. Something has to give. Destroying poppy plantations is no doubt good and on track, but this cannot be the end of it all. In fact this should just be a part of the crackdown on the drug cartel, a part of the War on Drugs campaign. It is the Government which is expected to pursue things to its logical conclusion, for remember the crackdown on poppy plantation is something which even an armed organisation like the ZUF has been doing for quite sometime now. Give more teeth to the War on Drugs campaign.
For years The Sangai Express has been prodding on why the War on Drugs campaign has always fallen short of unmasking the big names. Many cases have also been recalled and pointed out in this column with the question why no further report or news have come. And the question continues to hang. It has been like this for 8 years now and no answer is expected, but the question will continue to be raised. The Government will have to acknowledge that arresting one or two persons here at some of the more infamous areas in Imphal is nothing much more than pulling up some pushers. And for those arrested with huge consignments, nothing is heard about them once they are arrested and brought before the Court. Something has to give. Destroying poppy plantations is no doubt good and on track, but this cannot be the end of it all. In fact this should just be a part of the crackdown on the drug cartel, a part of the War on Drugs campaign. It is the Government which is expected to pursue things to its logical conclusion, for remember the crackdown on poppy plantation is something which even an armed organisation like the ZUF has been doing for quite sometime now. Give more teeth to the War on Drugs campaign.