Manipur Tribals Forum Delhi member WL Hangshing along with others addresses a press conference on the issue of Manipur violence. file | Photo Credit: ANI
Kuki-Zomi-Hamar bodies representing various tribes are supporting the Manipur government’s drive to clear opium farms in the state’s hill districts, a body of Manipuri tribals in Delhi has told the Supreme Court of India. It is alleged that the drug trade in the state is largely controlled by a nexus of drug lords who are close to top politicians.
In an Interlocutory Application (IA) filed by the Manipur Tribal Forum Delhi (MTFD) before the Supreme Court, the body also argued that the state government was allegedly seen fending off efforts to expose this nexus, and Demanded that the investigative report prepared by a senior police officer in this regard be brought on record.
MTFD filed fresh IA on 9th June Ethnic violence continues in Manipur,
The state has been in the grip of ethnic conflict since May 3 between the valley-dwelling Meiteis and the Scheduled Tribe (ST) hill Kuki-Zomi people following protests against the grant of ST status to Meites in Churachandpur district. So far at least a hundred people have been killed, hundreds of others injured, and thousands more have been internally displaced since then.
In its new application, the MTFD said that over the past decade, “powerful drug lords” had taken over the drug trade in Manipur. “Without specifically naming the drug lords or the communities they belong to, and only by way of a sample, a prominent drug lord is a relative of the former chief minister of Manipur. Other prominent drug lords are relatives of the present chief minister,” the MTFD submitted.
The MTFD said a detailed investigation into this alleged nexus was conducted by Brinda Thongnaujam, a former additional superintendent of police in Manipur, for which she was awarded a gallantry award in 2018. The application said that Ms. Thongnaujam had also submitted several reports. The state government “extorted in detail the powerful individuals and politicians behind the drug trade in Manipur”, but the case resulted in an acquittal, after which it returned its award.
The MTFD is now seeking to present the report prepared by Ms. Thongnaujam before the apex court.
Further, supporting the contention that tribals like the Kuki-Zomi are not responsible for opium cultivation and drug trade in the state, the application also presented various public communications issued by these bodies in the last two years in which their own people are restricted. Cultivate opium.
For example, the Kuki National Organization (KNO), the Hamar People’s Convention (Democratic), the Kuki National Front, the United Kuki Liberation Front, and the Zomi Youth Association, all repeatedly issued advisories and resolutions that threatened to move from forested hills to opium fields. – beginning at least in January 2020. Organizations under the umbrella of KNO, signatories to the suspension of Operation Pact, also made it clear that those involved in such cultivation would have to take responsibility for any consequences.
Furthermore, the MTFD stated that all the assurances given by the Central Government before the Supreme Court of the safety of tribals in Manipur were not correct. The application claimed, “After giving these assurances, 81 Kukis were killed, 237 churches and 73 administrative buildings/quarters were burnt and 141 villages were destroyed and 31,410 Kukis were displaced from their homes.”
The MTFD also said that they rejected the commission of inquiry set up by the Union of India, headed by former Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Ajay Lamba. It raised doubts whether Mr. Lamba would be the right person to head the commission, and also argued that the central government cannot investigate a case where it is also an accused.
“What is required is not a commission of inquiry which will do the bidding of ‘his master’s voice’, but an independent inquiry by authorities outside the State of Manipur,” the application argued.
It demanded that the Indian Army take full control of law and order in the violence-affected districts of the state; A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe headed by former Assam Director General of Police (DGP), Harekrishna Deka, and Justice (retd) Tinlianthang Vaiphei, former head of the Meghalaya state human rights body; First Information Reports (FIRs) against leaders of radical Meitei organizations such as Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Lepun, among other pleas.