Poppy plants behind tussle of Senapati villages
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, January 08 2011:
The clash between villagers of Thonglang Akutpa and Shonjang on January 5 erupted when villagers of Thonglang Akutpa destroyed poppy plants cultivated by Shongjang villagers, claimed Zinkulakrou, chief of Thonglang Akutpa today.
Interestingly, the chief claimed that his villagers had destroyed the poppy plants because the land on which the poppy plants were being cultivated belonged to Thonglang village.
He said this while addressing a media team at Senapati District Students' Association (SDSA) office, Senapati.
Zinkulakrou recalled that Thonglang Akutpa village inhabited by Liangmei tribe had been co-existing with the Kuki Shongjang also known as Shongjang Pakang for a long time.
Kukis began settling there on the insistence of the British, he claimed.
An unhealthy relationship between the two villages surfaced since one Gogou became the chief of Shongjang.
Under his leadership, his villagers started encroaching Thonglang areas.
They began to forcibly collect taxes from Thonglang villagers at the border with Shongjang village.
They even looted paddy from the villagers claiming that the land belonged to Shongjang.
The resulting tension was eased when an agreement was signed between the two villages under the initiative of the Maha Regiment stationed in the area.
The agreement mentioned that cultivation work in the area was to be carried out by the villagers of Thonglang.
However, a fresh tussle erupted when three hectares of land cleared by Thonglang villagers to create a grazing area was encroached by Shongjang villagers who began cultivating poppy plants.
The poppy plants were discovered when 102 males of Thonglang conducted a check of the village boundary on January 5 as part of a traditional practice of inspecting the boundary for every three years.
They destroyed a portion of the poppy plants.
On their way for further inspection, three persons belonging to a Kuki based UG group asked his villagers to go back but they continued their inspection, he said.
When the villagers reached a place known as Panmachap, they were blocked again, this time by around 20 armed Kuki UGs.
This resulted in a heated argument over the continuation of the boundary inspection.
In a bid to stop the villagers, UGs fired in the air.
On hearing the firing, personnel of 10 Dogra Regiment, who were patrolling, rushed to the area resulting in a cross fire between the Kuki UGs and security forces, the village chief said.
In the firing two UGs sustained bullet injuries and were evacuated to a hospital at Kangpokpi, Zinkulakrou said claiming that the injured men were not Shongjang villagers but Kuki UG elements.
Police came to their village and conducted an inquiry into the incident.
However, instead of inspecting the field where the poppy plants were being cultivated, the police reported that a potato farm of Shongjang village had been destroyed by villagers of Thonglang village causing damage worth ' 6 lakh approximately.
A spokesperson of the Zeliangrong Students' Union, taking part in the press briefing, expressed strong condemnation of the act of intimidating villagers of Thonglang by neighbouring Shongjang village.
He also praised the personnel of Dogra Regiment saying that they had prevented a possible large scale casualties by the UGs.
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