PAPPM calls for supporting War on Drugs
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, January 19 2023: While pledging its support to the government's 'War on Drugs' and those campaigning for a drug-free Manipur like AMADA and CADA, People's Alliance for Peace and Progress, Manipur (PAPPM) has urged the government to abrogate the Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement signed with ethnic militant groups which are encouraging drug smuggling and poppy plantation. In a statement, PAPPM president M Bobby Meetei said that PAPPM was quite disturbed when some individuals and politicians especially MPPC president K Meghachandra Singh attempted to undermine the present campaign of War on Drugs in the aftermath of arrest of five police personnel who were illegally transporting huge quantity of drugs from Moreh town.

According to Bobby, drug problem in Manipur has been there for a long time and it is so deep rooted that unstinted support from public to the ongoing War on Drugs campaign is very much essential.

How deep rooted the drug menace in Manipur and North-East is can be judged from the paper 'Guns, drugs and rebels' submitted by Subir Bhaumik, a veteran BBC journalist and ana -ly st of Eastern and North east -ern India, in a seminar in 2005.In the paper, Subir wrote that India did not join the 'Joint Special Task Unit 2002' set up by the six countries -Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China to coordinate in the fight against drug trafficking despite clear indications that Burmese drug cartels were increasingly using Northeast Indian states to send their deadly cargo into Bangladesh, mainland India or Nepal enroute to regional and global markets.

He also wrote about the threefold threat posed by the increased drug trafficking to India particularly to the north-eastern region.

He emphatically wrote in 2005 that unless new poppy plantations are promptly destroyed and gainful agricultural alternatives provided to the farmers, the India-Burma border will soon be dotted with poppy fields feeding the drug processing units in western Burma.

He also warned of a rebel druglord-officialdom nexus emerging in India's Northeast in a repeat of the Colombian scenario.

However, it was very unfortunate that the then Government of India as well as the Government of Manipur did not make any serious attempt to fight drug problem and today we are facing a mammoth problem of incessant drug trafficking and rampant poppy plantation in some hill districts of Manipur.

The signing of the tripartite Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement involving the Central and state governments with various ethnic militant groups in 2008 led to further increase in poppy cultivation.

It must be put on record that there had been response to this threat from civil society organisations of Manipur.

All Manipur Anti-Drug Association (AMADA) was formed on December 20, 2005 and the Coalition Against Drugs & Alcohol (CADA) on September 18, 2006 to mobilise the public in a movement to prevent and fight drug menace in Manipur.

AMADA had been the driving force behind destruction of poppy plantations in Nongmaiching hills range, Molkon Hills range, Dingpi area of Chandel district and other areas in hills districts from 2010 to 2014.They had also reported about the widespread poppy plantation in hill districts as well as the existence of 'Mobile Opium Manufacturing Units' in 2014.It was very unfortunate the then Congress government under the chief ministership of O Ibobi Singh made no serious attempt to tackle the problem of drug menace and widespread poppy plantation at that time.

The insensitivity and insincerity of the government at that time in tackling the drug problem is clear from the fact the government machineries were reacting only when the civil society organisations like AMADA and CADA pointed out the existence Of such poppy plantations in specific areas.

The then government had no intention of fighting the drug menace in Manipur as shown from the fact that the Special Manipur police Special Intelligence Unit (SIU) of Imphal West formed on May 6, 2012 to fight the drug menace was abolished on January 13, 2013 after the seizure of drug consignment from Imphal airport.

The Officer-in-Charge of SIU responsible for the seizure of the drug consignment was transferred and victimised instead of being awarded.

Had the then government been little more sensitive and sincere in fighting the drug menace and taken action against the poppy plantations in time, Manipur may not be facing the mammoth drug problem being faced now, Bobby added in his statement.

According to the PAPPM president, people have been witnessing a sea change in the approach of the government after N Biren Singh was sworn in as the chief minister in 2017.On November 3, 2018, he declared War on Drugs campaign with involvement and commitment of government machineries.

The present government is making all-out effort to wean away villagers from poppy plantations besides massive destruction of those plantations.

It would not be an exaggeration to state that the War on Drugs campaign has prevented the emergence of rebel-druglord-official dom nexus in Manipur.

In this background, it is laudable that hve Manipur Police personnel, who were illegally transporting huge quantity of drugs from Moreh town, were arrested by a team of Kakching police on January 16, 2023.This is a clear example of the commitment and no compromise from the part of the present government in dealing with drugs and it deserves appreciation from one and all.

However, it was very unfortunate that MPCC president K Meghachandra is indulging in theatrics even to the extent of visiting the Kakching police station not for appreciating efforts but for portraying the arrest as a failure of the War on Drugs.

Any right thinking person would observe that he is attempting to deny the present government the credit it deserves for the arrest of the police personnel involved in drug trafficking.

In the process he (Meghachandra) is indirectly encouraging the drug peddlers by morally discour aging those police personnel who are sincerely fighting the drug menace under the War on Drugs campaign, Bobby said and reminded Meghachandra about the approach of the then Congress government on January 11, 2013 when SIU was abolished and the officer responsible for the seizure of the drug was transferred and victimised.

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