It is observed that between 2017 and 2023, security forces cleared over 77 square kilometres of illegal poppy fields and made nearly 3,000 arrests, which is an impressive effort (MoEFCC, December 16, 2024). This land could have sustained families with lawful crops, if there is a change of heart among the offenders. Despite 2,351 drug cases and nearly 3,000 arrests, the trade thrives. The fight targets symptoms while the disease deepens its hold on Manipur’s economy and society.
It is not only about illegal farming. It is about corruption rooted deep in communities, turning farmers into criminals (may not be deliberate) and protectors into predators (may not be intentional, too). Enforcement faces a ruthless enemy, not the poppy plant, but a criminal economy that profits from human suffering. When the love of money becomes the root of all evil, entire communities fall into darkness.
Yes, of course, we must be grateful to the security forces working tirelessly to eradicate illegal poppy cultivation. But gratitude alone won’t solve this crisis. As a community, we need to actively cooperate with enforcement efforts, strengthening their hand in this joint mission. The question is whether we have the moral courage to do what’s essential?
The Mechanism of Destruction
The process is devastatingly simple. Poor farmers, trapped by debt or pressure/blackmail from drug financiers, plant poppies across the hills. Processors turn the opium into heroin. Traffickers move it through cross-border networks. At every stage, the love of money drives people deeper into moral darkness, and everyone along the chain may know precisely what they’re doing.
The farmers know that poppy cultivation has a long-term adverse effect on. The local communities watch as their own youth become addicted to the poison grown on nearby hills. Traffickers watch families collapse, villages break, and futures vanish. The trade endures because many take a share of the illegal poppy money. Poverty meets greed, and greed always wins.
The Apostle Paul cautioned Timothy (1 Tim 6:10) that ” the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. “His words ring with prophetic clarity across Manipur’s scarred hillsides today. The prophet Micah (2:2, NIV) condemned those who covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. In Manipur, concerned hillsides are seized not by individuals but by a criminal economy that views human suffering through the cold calculus of profit and loss.
Betrayal from Within
The prophet Jeremiah (23:1, NIV) cried out, “Oh, to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” His ancient anguish could have been written for Manipur today. The crisis is worsened immeasurably by betrayal from within – from those who should be guardians but have become predators.
Some security officers may compromise their oaths and their honour when they fall into the trap. We come across that they have been arrested as culprits in the very trade they’re supposed to eliminate. Local leaders who should shield communities instead shield the networks, destroying them. The shepherds have scattered the flock, leadership is compromised, and justice is selective. Is truth buried beneath layers of corruption and involvement?
It is the deepest wound – when guardians become predators, when those with power to protect choose instead to profit, when the uniform meant to inspire trust becomes a cover for exploitation. How can communities trust enforcement when enforcers themselves are involved? How can farmers exit the illegal economy when those offering protection are themselves illegally operating?
Obviously, Manipur will continue to need guardians who actually protect rather than profit. It requires real enforcement, honest leadership, and year-round action backed by moral authority that hasn’t been compromised by illegal poppy money – on going process.However, let us bear in mind that there are many enforcers who are sincerely committed to their mission.
The Path Forward: Continuous Justice
The prophet Amos demanded that justice “roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5:24). He called not for brief bursts of enforcement but for steady, unbroken justice. Change demands transformation across every level of Manipur’s society.
Continuous justice may mean permanent suppression units stationed year-round in poppy-growing districts – not seasonal task forces that arrive with cameras, destroy some fields, and leave. Continuous presence and continuous deterrence will be the way to go! It is what rolling justice actually looks like on the ground.
It means seed-stage intervention, destroying fields before the latex flows, before the harvest, before revenue reaches the drug network groups. Waiting until after harvest to conduct raids is like locking the barn door after the horse has bolted. Attack the crop early, and you actually hurt the financiers where it matters most.
It means neutral policing that prosecutes criminals from all communities equally. Crime is crime, regardless of whether the perpetrator shares our ethnicity or not, as the illegal poppy economy has no boundaries.
Most critically, continuous justice means financial targeting. It means tracing money, and prosecuting the financiers and traffickers who profit, not the genuinely helpless farmers at the bottom.
But here’s the reality no one wants to admit farmers who try to switch to legal crops like ginger, turmeric, or cardamom face threats and violence from traffickers who need them back in the illegal poppy economy.
Finally, justice requires transparency. It is encouraging to see published arrests, convictions, and seizures recovered. When people see balanced enforcement backed by complex numbers, propaganda dies. Trust begins to rebuild. Justice becomes visible, not theoretical.
Choose This Day
Joshua (24:15, NIV) challenged his people, the Israelites – “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Manipur faces the same choice today. Will the state serve money – the opium economy that funds violence and destroys communities? Or will it serve justice, righteousness, and the protection of its people?
Challenging questions – the security forces must choose between theatrical raids for good press (without deep impact) or year-round suppression that actually works. Village leaders must choose between protecting drug fields for short-term cash or protecting their children from addiction. Farmers must choose too – but they need real alternatives and absolute security to make that choice survivable.
Manipur’s hillsides can bear fruit again. But first, they must stop the bleeding of opium. The choice is clear. The time is now. As the prophet Micah (6:8, NIV) asked, “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Justice for Manipur means destroying the illegal poppy economy, not just the illegal poppy fields. Only then will the people truly be free.
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, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ukhrul Times. The Ukhrul Times values and encourages diverse perspectives. 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.)
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