GUWAHATI: The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) which is a conglomerate of civil society organisations has asked the European Parliament to make sure Manipur does not become a “New Golden Triangle” even as it said the violence in the state has nothing to do with religion.
The Golden Triangle is the region where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet, which is one of the biggest poppy-growing and drug-trafficking corridors in the world.
In a letter to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, the Imphal Valley-based group COCOMI said the European Parliament arrived at a flawed understanding of the issue as a conflict between minority Christians and majority Meitei Hindus.
The European Parliament had passed a resolution on Manipur and called on the Indian government to act promptly to halt the violence and protect religious minorities.
“The recent violence was not on religious line. It was between immigrant Chin-Kuki narco-terrorist groups and indigenous Meitei communities,” the organisation wrote.
It said hundreds of churches, belonging to about 25 ethnic communities, are still standing tall in the heart of Meitei-dominated areas, including Imphal. Further, it said many Christian ethnic communities, except Chin-Kuki groups, are still settled in Imphal and other Meitei-dominated areas and living together in harmony.
“Please note, 170000 Meitei communities are also Christians, which is 35% of Manipur’s Kuki Christian population. The first ever Christian convert in Manipur is also a Meitei and their descendants are still Christians,” the COCOMI wrote.
It alleged all Meiteis, including Meitei Christians, were “ethnically cleansed” from the Chin-Kuki Christian-dominated districts on May 3 and 4 by Chin-Kuki Christians only.
Further, it alleged, “100% Meitei religious centres in the Kuki-dominated hill areas are being completely destroyed and wiped out. Every Meitei Hindu and Sanamahi dwelling houses comprises three important temples or place of worship…So, when a Meitei house is being burned down, it includes three important temples of worship.”
The COCOMI sought to draw the European Parliament’s attention to the issue of “Chin-Kuki narco-terrorism”, stating that it has a direct relation to the ongoing violence.
“The emerging narco-terrorist activities and establishment of a narco-economy inside Manipur, primarily operated and managed by armed (illegal) immigrants and their drug cartel syndicates in India from Myanmar belonging to Chin-Kuki tribes, is the main cause of the violence,” the organisation alleged.
It said a thick, dense and lush green forest area of about 125,000 acres is being completely deforested for opium cultivation, and its estimated annual production is 500 MT to 625 MT.
Alleging that all necessary infrastructure and network for institutionalizing the “narco-economy” is being set up in Manipur, the COCOMI said this alarming development creates a highly volatile socio-political environment where a small spark could quickly escalate into an inferno.
“…the people of Manipur anticipate that the European Union shall live up to its responsibility and play a non-partisan active role in resolving the crisis. Do not let a New Golden Triangle emerge in the region, particularly in Manipur,” the organisation further wrote to Metsola.
