The menace of drugs in the North East region

Wada Na Todo Abhiyan *

The Union Minister of State of Social Justice and Empowerment of the Government of India had released the Nasha Mukt Bharat Annual Action Plan for 2020-21 on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, 26 June 2020. The Action Plan focuses on 272 most affected districts.

A three-pronged attack was launched by combining efforts of Narcotics Bureau, Outreach/Awareness by Social Justice and Treatment through the Health Department. The Action Plan is in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal number three (target five) and it seeks to “Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol.”

Drugs impact young people and wean away enormous energies of the country’s youth population. In this light, the Action Plan was a welcome initiative. The most affected districts identified by the Action Plan include nine districts of Manipur, namely Churachandpur, Senapati, Bishnupur, Chandel, Imphal East, Imphal West, Kangpokpi, Thoubal and Ukhrul.

According to the report of the same Ministry, entitled Magnitude of Substance Use, 2019, the State of Manipur with a population of less than 0.4 per cent of India has 14:22 per cent current opioids users. The human, ecological, social, economic and political cost of the menace on the State could be nothing but devastating.

To tackle the challenge, the Chief Minister of Manipur called for a “War on Drug” and has come out with the Manipur State Policy on Psychoactive Substances 2019. The policy is hailed for its strong demand reduction and harm reduction components, but is criticized for its weak ‘supply reduction component’.

So long as drugs are readily and cheaply available on streets and in hamlets, it will be impossible to tackle the menace locally. Nasha Mukt Bharat will only remain a pipe dream as long as the narco-terrorist network supplying drugs into the rest of the country is not busted.

Manipur has been a transit point for illicit drugs from the infamous ‘Golden Triangle’ to India and beyond for almost half a century. The scenario has compounded with the en-mass cultivation of poppy in the hills and opening up of manufacturing units over the last decade. Poppy is cultivated en-mass in almost all the hill districts in the State.

Even though the land holders can be booked under the Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985 (ND&PS), not a single person has been arrested in connection with poppy cultivation till date.

On the contrary the area under poppy cultivation is expanding at an exponential rate. Poppy cultivation also adversely affects the ecological balance, as the cultivation is done at the cost of ever-increasing deforestation, excessive application of weedicides, pesticides, and chemical fertilisers and leads to soil salinity It is ironical that Manipur is yet to come out with a comprehensive rule under the ND&PS Act, 1985 despite the magnitude of the problem.

It raises the question : Are institutions kept weak to help powerful operatives inside the State and non-State power structures ? The Collective organized a sit-in protest and protest rallies across Manipur demanding that the powerful operatives be penalised. Instead of following the popular demand, the Manipur Government unleashed a crackdown on the peaceful protestors.

A leader, Sintha Laishram, was even booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The Collective also wrote to the Prime Minister of India requesting to do whatever is necessary to ensure that Manipur is saved from the clutches of the invisible, yet highly powerful drug cartel.

The Ministry of Home Affairs Government of India (North East 11) in its letter dated 25 March 2021 requested the Government of Manipur to give a suitable reply on the issue of "Drug menace in the State of Manipur and related to Special trial case no. 100 of 2018."

Considering the expanding rights of the victims in the criminal law and also the fact that society as a whole is victim of the menace of drug and drug trafficking, members of The 3.5 Collective approached the High Court of Manipur seeking to grant a special leave of appeal.

But the Court, vide its judgment dated 29 May 2021, tumed down the request on the ground that the individuals seeking appeal against the judgment are third party and if granted it would be a dangerous doctrine and would cause utter confusion in the criminal justice system “As a last resort the 3.5 Collective is considering the possibility of approaching the Supreme Court of India seeking a prayer to grant special leave under article 136 of the Constitution of India.

They are pinning their hope that the apex Court would grant them a favourable order by appreciating magnitude and depth of the problem and the centrality of this case in busting the entrenched nexus.”

The corrupting influence of drug money has weakened and corroded the vital institutions of the State. The illicit drug trafficking and narco-terrorism in Manipur have grown enormously in sophistication, volume and depth over the decades. It promises to emerge as a significant long-term security threat not only for Manipur but also the whole country, unless it is tackled with urgency.

The menace of drugs in Manipur requires the same high decibel role of the NCB as it did in the cases involving Bollywood stars in the past year. Else Nasha Mukt Bharat will remain a pipe dream and India and Manipur will have to remain a mute witness to the best of its youth getting swallowed by the illicit drugs trade.