After Union Home Minister’s strict warning to the SoO ground rules during his three days visit to the state, yet again Kuki Militants continued their attack at several Meitei villages in different pockets since the first week of May.

The whole issue started with just a plant “Poppy”. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report which tracked Mayanmar opium farming shows that the cultivation shot up in 2022. 

The month long ethnic violence has a link with the 1,640 km long Indo-Mayanmar border with its direct link to poppy cultivation and drug trafficking. The State Government’s campaign on destroying thousands of acres of poppy farms in the hill districts of Manipur started in 2017.

Factors leading to this ethnic violence:
1) Loss of livelihoods of the hill tribes who have been adopting poppy cultivation for decades.
2) Protest by the Kuki tribe settling in the hills against valley majority Meitei’s demand for inclusion under the Scheduled Tribe category for some years. Reports are coming in that the Kuki Militants/Chin Kuki Militants have been attacking many villages situated at the foothills since May 3rd.

Most of the weapons they are using are mainly sophisticated ones and lethod bombs mostly Chinese made available at the borders or some do come by sea route. Villagers have expressed that those Kuki Militants were conversing in Kuki dialects and later changed into Burmese dialects before starting their attacks.

On the first week of June, one MLA of Kumbi AC  Sanasam Premchandra expressed,” If these Kuki Militants continue like this I will forget that I am an MLA and do everything to save the innocent people. Why should we suffer so much when we had done nothing to them?”

Most of the places which are prone to such attacks are the foothills of Leimakhong on the Northwest, Khamenlok on the Northeastern side, Moreh, Sugnu, Sherou, Haraothel, and Koutruk to be named a few.

With the naked eye, one could easily see earlier dense forest hill ranges now lifeless views. Most of the villagers who came running from far corner places expressed that they want back those peaceful days and don’t want to live such uncertain lives running from relief camp to relief camp in groups.

Some have now been put up in more than 100 schools. Helping hands from locals and Samaritans have been continuing since the first week of May. Talking to KRC TIMES some victims strongly expressed that,” The Chin-Kuki Militants are the ones who are holding the guns.

Those who entered from Burma side in recent months need to move back either with force or with the proper discussion which should be from the Indian Government or else we may die but India will be soon wrapped up in drugs and these emotionless people.”

While filing the story reports came in after the attack at Senjam Chirang in the morning villagers heard a non-stop bomb blast at Kadangband and Koutruk. At present local clubs from Imphal East and Imphal West, Meiteis living in Assam and neighbouring states are pouring in with relief materials for the villagers of  Sugnu, Nazareth, Tangjeng, Kangchup Chingkhong, Pombikhok, Napat, Churchandpur which are scattered in various relief camps in the state.