Welcoming anyone in the name of kindred tribes
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: December 19, 2023 -

A lot has been written and commented on the current crisis in Myanmar and its possible repercussions in the four northeastern Indian states that share 1,643 km long porous international boundary with the strife-torn neighbouring country.

Even though Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, which respectively share 520 km and 215 km long border with Myanmar have not made much news, the spill-over of the military coup in Myanmar that took place in February 2021 has already been felt in Manipur (398 km) and Mizoram (510 km) which share border with Myanmar's Sagaing region and Chin state, where a rapidly expanding offensive by Myanmar's anti-junta groups has seen pro-democracy resistance fighters capturing key towns and cities, fuelling concerns about a spillover of tensions and influx of refugees in the northeastern states of India.

Even if leaders of Kuki-Chin people have been playing down the issue of illegal immigrants from Myanmar and their involvement in illicit Poppy cultivation in the hill areas of Manipur as one of the main factors that led to the current conflict between the Meetei and Kuki-Chin people in Manipur, this fact has been repeatedly underlined by both the Government of Manipur and the Government of India, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah taking into confidence members of the Indian Parliament during discussion on the non-confidence motion raised by the Opposition parties over the alleged failure of resolving the crisis in Manipur.

The Union government and the state government of Manipur had also told the Supreme Court that the genesis of the ethnic clashes in Manipur that has so far led to loss of hundreds of precious human lives and displacement of thousands of families from their homes and hearths was the crackdown on illegal Myanmar migrants' illicit poppy cultivation and 'drug business' in the hill districts.

Although there were many people who contested and denounced the claim made by the union home minister as endorsement of the narrative of Meetei by New Delhi, the latest Southeast Asian Opium Survey, 2023 released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has shown otherwise.

Whether this survey report of UNODC, which has clearly stated that Myanmar has become the world's biggest opium producer surpassing Afghanistan and the drug menace has replaced militancy as the prime threat in the North eastern states owing to the region's proximity to Myanmar, would be able to silence the critics or not is hard to tell.

But it is interesting to note that these very same breed of critics, who choose to remain shut their eyes as well as ears to the possible repercussions of ever-increasing influx of refugees from Myanmar are literally seeing red when China is making efforts for mediation between the Myanmar military Junta and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Ta'ang National Liberation Army and Arakan Army groups for reaching agreements on a temporary ceasefire and maintaining dialogue.

Of course, as many Myanmar watchers have pointed out, China's approach towards peace and stability in Myanmar lacks any real prospects for peace as they are pursuing stability in Myanmar only to the extent it serves to protect their economic, security, and energy interests, not peace for Myanmar as a whole. Beneath the surface of its official rhetoric of non-interference, Beijing is using all its leverage to reshape Myanmar to suit its economic interests and geostrategic agendas.

For leverage, China is also using the Federal Political Negotiation Consultative Committee (FPNCC) made up of 7 ethnic armed groups, namely, UWSA, Kachin Independence Army, National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), Shan State Progress Party (SSPP), Arakan Army, Ta'ang National Liberation Army, and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army in bases along the Sino-Burmese borders.

While China's involvement in Myanmar has reminded us of the fable of monkey and cats, in which two cats fight over the division of a piece of bread and the monkey who mediated in that conflict ended up eating the entire piece of bread, failure on the part of critics to see what is happening in Manipur and Mizoram today would only embolden China to expand its influence.

Let's us not lose sight of the fact that with Manipur remaining in turmoil for the last several months; Mizoram is turning into a major corridor of illegal drug trade with its door wide open to any refugee coming from Myanmar, all in the name of kindred tribes.