MANY MAY ASK why I write about illegal poppy cultivation issues in Manipur. The reason is simple. I care about the farmers trapped in fear and poverty. I care about the families broken by violence and addiction. I care about a land wounded, causing devastation by what many now call blood opium. Even if one farmer changes a heart, and even if one community member begins to ponder why many farmers could be growing illegal poppy, it matters to me. We are together in this mission!
And when we care, common sense demands that we connect the dots, that we imagine the ground reality, and that we speak up, even when the truth is uncomfortable.
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Manipur’s opium poppy fields are more than farmland. They are battlegrounds where lives hang by a thread, where survival costs the future, and where communities must choose between fear and courage. It demands a change of heart from the farmers who cultivate these deadly crops, who could be under intimidation, and from the communities who must learn to support them in changing their hearts rather than condemning them without reasoning.
The Ground Reality – Cultivation Under Intimidation?
Let us be clear about one fundamental truth. We never know that many farmers in Manipur could be under intimidation or blackmail under circumstances that left them with little room to refuse. I don’t need to explain in detail, but I could imagine their circumstances.
Let us imagine being a farmer in a village where armed men arrive and demand that we plant poppies instead of legal crops. We hear the threat in their voices and know that refusal could bring violence, the loss of our homes, or death. Imagine the economic calculation when we realise that poppy cultivation, despite its oral burden, might be the only way to keep our children fed in a region where legitimate agricultural markets are difficult to access and government support is sporadic at best. What will we do? I know for sure, planting illegal poppy should not be an option, but a difficult choice for many.
Also Read: Survival, Not Choice?
It is not to excuse the growing of illegal poppies, but to understand it. Often, the farmers did not create this crisis. In many cases, they may be its victims, trapped between threats and crushing poverty. I stick to my gun – I do not commend illegal poppy cultivation. Any solution that ignores this truth will fail.
The Ripple Effects – A society Bleeding
Sadly, the consequences of opium cultivation extend far beyond the fields where poppies bloom. If we read and listen to the news, Manipur faces a sharp rise in drug addiction, especially among its youth. Heroin from opium has torn families apart, destroyed young lives, and left a generation scarred by addiction. Violence from the drug trade has shattered communities, deepened ethnic divides, and torn apart the social bonds that once held communities together.
It is blood opium indeed – blood spilled in turf wars, blood poisoned by addiction, blood ties severed by the corrosive effects of the drug trade. And the bleeding will not stop until we address not just the symptoms but the heart of the matter.
A Call for Community Spirit
In many cases, many farmers could live under threat, youth fall to addiction, and violence rips through communities. These are not separate problems but all interconnected wounds. When one part breaks, the pain spreads to all. They are threads in a shared fabric, and when one part tears, we all feel the consequences.
The transformation Manipur needs cannot come from government action alone, nor from the farmers’ individual decisions in isolation. It requires a revival of community spirit, a collective commitment to supporting those who wish to leave poppy cultivation behind and to creating conditions where such a choice becomes possible.
Yes, it means extending empathy. It is easy to condemn from a distance, to declare moral superiority while facing none of the pressures that drive desperate choices. It is harder – but far more necessary to ask what we would do in their shoes, and then to offer the help that makes different choices possible.
The Transformative Power of Unconditional Love
As I reflect on Manipur’s opium crisis, I would like to share the story of Lazarus for our focus point on God’s unconditional love, when we are helpless and calling for God’s mercy (John 11: 1 to 44, NIV). When Jesus reached Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days. The scene appeared hopeless. Martha even warned that opening the tomb would bring a foul smell. Yet Jesus, moved by compassion, called out to Lazarus, and the dead man walked, still wrapped in his grave clothes.
This story speaks profoundly to Manipur’s situation. Many might look at the opium crisis and see only death – the death of hope, of community, of futures. They might believe the situation has deteriorated too far, that the “foul smell” of intimidation and violence is too great. But God’s love operates differently. His compassion is unconditioned, not because we deserve it but because He sees our potential for transformation.
Just as Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb, so too can God’s love call farmers and communities from the clutch of the opium trade. But notice what God did after Lazarus emerged – Jesus instructed the people to “take off the grave cloths and let him go.” Resurrection required action from the community. Lazarus needed help removing his grave clothes. He needed people’s support to restore his life.
The same is true in Manipur. God’s compassion can inspire a change of heart in farmers willing to abandon poppy cultivation. But the change requires the community to act – to “unbind” these farmers from the economic and social constraints that keep them trapped, to help them shed the grave clothes of intimidation and desperation, and welcome them back into the fullness of productive, legitimate life.
From Death to Life – A Path Forward
The change of heart Manipur needs has two dimensions. Farmers must find the courage and faith to leave opium behind and believe another path is possible. We need to have complete faith in God. It is difficult but essential. It means trusting that God provides through honest work and that absolute safety comes from standing in truth, not fear.
Second, the broader community, including churches, civil society organisations, government bodies, and citizens must embrace these farmers with unconditional support. It means practical assistance, moral support and financial help for transitioning to alternative crops, security from retaliation, access to markets, and so on. But it also means spiritual and emotional support – treating returning farmers not as outcasts but as prodigals coming home, celebrating their courage rather than dwelling on their past.
A Common Sense Conclusion
When we connect the dots, when we imagine the ground reality, when we care enough to look beyond simplistic narratives, we see that we can win Manipur’s war on opium with a collective effort. It requires a change of heart – heart changes inspired by God’s unconditional love and made possible by a community willing to act on that love.
The poppies that bloom across Manipur’s hills are beautiful flowers that produce deadly fruit. But those Manipur fields can bloom with legitimate crops if we are willing to support the transformation. The farmers who now cultivate death can become cultivators of life if we will unbind them and let them go.
Yes, it is not naive optimism. Manipur’s grounded in the reality of God’s transformative power and the practical understanding that sustainable change requires both divine inspiration and human action. Manipur’s crisis demands a change of heartand that change begins with you, with me, with all of us who dare to care enough to act.
The question is not whether change is God’s will. The question is whether we will answer the call to make it so. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” – John 11: 44 (NIV)
Statement:I do not support illegal poppy cultivation. I support sustainable alternatives that strengthen society and help affected farmers in Manipur. I stand firmly behind the Manipur Government’s “War on Drugs” campaign. As a strong, united community, we must work alongside government agencies that are helping farmers abandon illegal poppy farming. We, the people of Manipur, can eliminate unlawful poppy cultivation through collective effort. I call upon the entire Manipur community to unite as one team in this fight against illegal cultivation of poppy, working together to create sustainable livelihoods and a healthier future for all.
(The views expressed are personal. The author, Chongboi Haokip, MCIHort, is an international development consultant specialising in Agriculture, horticulture, and trade facilitation. She can be reached at chongboi4community@gmail.com.)