Drugs and arms supplies in Manipur worry Nepram

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, August 26: Speaking at a press meet here at Guwahati Press Club  Bi Laksmi Nepram said that increase in Illegal arms supply and  drugs abuse are matters of serious concern in Manipur.

Nepram, who is the founder of Manipur women gun survivors network and secretary general of Control Arms Foundation of India, is working on peace in the Northeast. She said that various conflicts in the region owe to drugs and illegal business of arms.

"Terming this issue as the rco-insurgency, 66 per cent of the total production of heroin in the country is done in Manipur. The opium flowers are imported from Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. The chemicals used are being transported from Cheni," she said.

Nepram rued the fact that in spite of the implementation of the draconian AFSPA , arms groups increased to 72 in the State.

"AFSPA was implemented in 1968. In 1970 there were five arms group in Manipur. In 1990, they rose to 30, and now there are as many as 72 arms groups in the State. 62 of these are from Manipur itself. The smaller arms groups earn from illegal drugs business," she said.

Nepram lamented that the Northeast, especially Manipur, has become the hub of arms supply from nearly 30 countries. Chi-made AK-47s are available in 16 to 20 thousand, and American 9mm pistols are available at Rs 5,000 a piece. "Poor women are involved in gun-running. As many as 20,000 poor widows are deprived of government schemes, and that leads to their dependence on illegal business. Drugs and arms supply are interlinked," Nepram said.

Nepram asked for Central assistance for peace as infrastructure development, education, employment generation and negotiations and talks with the civil society are the ways of bringing back normalcy in the State. She said that the mainlanders should be educated about the history of the Northeast and its people, and also among the various ethnic groups of the region.