Turning the tide
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: December 15, 2023 -

AFTER a 4.02 minutes long video clip, titled, "Turning the Tides: Manipur's Resolute War on Drugs" that was posted by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through its main handle on the micro-blogging site X on December 3 last explaining about the steps taken up by the Government of Manipur to tackle the problem of illegal poppy cultivation in the tiny north-eastern state whose geographical proximity to the infamous "Golden Triangle' made it a prime transit route for drug trafficking, Chief Minister N Biren Singh recently shared two more posts on Facebook with the caption "Please see and think about the seriousness of illegal immigrants in Manipur from neighbouring Myanmar and other countries."

In the first post, titled "The role of illegal Myanmar immigrants in the recent violence in Manipur," which is just 1.28 minutes long, efforts made by the Government of Manipur to address the national security concerns in the wake of rising the number of immigrants from Myanmar entering Manipur following the military coup and subsequent civil war in the neighbouring country has been highlighted.

It pointed out that a Cabinet Sub-Committee (CSC) led by Minister Letpao Haokip with Minister Awangbow Newmai and Minister Thounaojam Basantakumar as members was set up and the 1st phase of identification exercise conducted by the committee led to detection of 1147 Myanmar immigrants in 13 villages of Tengnoupal district, 881 in 3 villages of Chandel district, 154 in one village of Churachandpur district and 5 Myanmar immigrants in Kamjong district from out of 24 villages surveyed as of April 24, 2023.

The second post, which is 6.45-minute long and titled, "Unnatural growth of villages and new settlements in some districts of Manipur" is complementary to the first post.

It claims that while there had been rise in the number of villages in certain hill districts since 2006, the influx of illegal immigrants into Manipur spiked after the February 2021 military coup in Myanmar and these illegal immigrants have settled in Reserved and Protected Forest areas mostly in Churachandpur, Kamjong, Pherzawl, Chandel, Tengnoupal and Kangpokpi districts.

While the first video clip posted by the BJP's main handle on X has been seen by many as clear-cut evidence of solid endorsement of the War on Drugs campaign launched by Chief Minister N Biren Singh in Manipur by his party as well as the governments, both at the centre and in the state; the two latter posts shared by the Chief Minister on Facebook have shown his resolute stand to neutralise the false narratives weaved by the Kuki-Chin civil bodies about "authoritarian rule" and "selective targeting of Kuki-Chin community" by the BJP-run State government, which are being peddled as root causes of the ongoing ethnic conflict between the Meitei/ Meetei and Kuki-Chin communities that broke out on May 3 last.

By writing cryptically within parentheses, "Eina thirubase sisuni war on drugs ki mathakta', which could be roughly translated as "This is also what I have been trying to unravel in addition to war on drugs", Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who has been criticised for failing to prevent the violent conflict from going out of hand, has indicated his intent of not only fighting back his detractors but also to carry forward his "war on drugs" to its logical conclusion.

Putting aside the question of whether Chief Minister N Biren Singh would be able to turn the tide, it's a fact that the War on Drugs campaign launched by the Government of Manipur for the first time in November 2018 garnered massive support from various sections of society, showing their determination to root out the menace of drugs once and for all, until some people who had high stakes in the destruction caused to 13,969.368 acres of illicit poppy cultivation in Kuki-Chin inhabited areas alone, during the period from 1.01.2017 to 21.06.2023, pressed the button to raise false alarm.

No wonder, the first spark of the now over seven months long ethnic conflict was lit in Churachandpur district during a supposedly peaceful Tribal Solidarity March taken out against the directive of High Court of Manipur given to the Government of Manipur for sending recommendation to the centre for granting ST status to Meitei/Meetei community.

Why the Tribal Solidarity March turned violent only in Kuki-Chin inhabited areas while it ended peacefully in other hill districts is a million-dollar question none of the Kuki-Chin leaders would ever dare to answer.

Therein lies the catch for turning the tide.