Crisis fallout of drive against drugs, influx: PAPPM
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, May 02 2025: People's Alliance for Peace and Progress, Manipur (PAPPM) on Friday asserted that the ongoing violence in the state is not an ethnic conflict between Meeteis and Kukis, but fallout of campaigns against criminal networks tied to illegal drugs, poppy cultivation, deforestation and illegal immigration.

In a statement, PAPPM clarified that misrepresenting the crisis as communal strife distracts from the real threats, stating: "Make no mistake, there is no war between Kukis and Meeteis".

"This is a war between the people of Manipur and the criminal networks that threaten the state's survival," the alliance continued, adding that Manipur has become a hotspot for poppy cultivation, feeding a drug crisis, devastating the youth and enabling criminal syndicates.

According to the Alliance, resistance to the state's "War on Drugs" by vested interests has escalated unrest and violence.

It noted that illegal deforestation, often tied to poppy farming and land encroachment, is also worsening the state's environmental crisis, threatening biodiversity, water sources, and the ecological balance.

"This destruction undermines the state's natural and cultural heritage," PAPPM said.

The group also highlighted unchecked illegal immigration from Myanmar as a key driver of demographic imbalance and forest encroachment.

These undocumented immigrants are involved in illegal land use and poppy cultivation, PAPPM said, while stressing that the issue is political, not ethnic, and must be addressed urgently.

Describing the violence that erupted on May 3, 2023, as or chestrated, PAPPM maintained that it was intended to derail efforts to curb illegal activities and restore order.

It reminded that the crisis be viewed in the light of the long-standing demand by indigenous Meeteis for constitutional protection and the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system to regulate settlement by non-indigenous persons.

Rather than spontaneous unrest, PAPPM said that the violence is a backlash from illegal elements and their political allies and accused the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with Kuki militant groups of legitimising violence and enabling these groups to gain arms, influence, and control in many hill districts.

PAPPM said that these Kuki militants are not traditional insurgents, claiming that they were initially armed village guards, but have grown into quasi-political outfits under the SoO framework since 2008, which are now asserting fabricated claims of indignity over forest and hill areas, including culturally significant sites like the Thangjing Range.

The alliance warned that there is a campaign of demographic engineering, forest capture, and political lobbying under the guise of protecting identity, all supported by weak law enforcement and tacit political backing.

Calling the crisis "militancy without ideology," PAPPM said the conflict is driven by profit from illicit economies, not legitimate political grievances.

"This is about criminal enterprise cloaked in political grievance, with civilians caught in the crossfire," it stated.

PAPPM then urged political leaders and media to stop fuelling ethnic narratives and focus on real issues and also called on the governments of India and Manipur to immediately terminate the SoO agreement, act against drug cartels and poppy plantations, enforce forest conservation, implement a land use policy, protect indigenous land rights, and conduct an NRC update with focus on Manipur.

"Manipur's future depends on recognising the real threats.

The people deserve peace, law and justice - not another chapter of conflict rooted in deception and impunity," PAPPM cautioned.

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