Illegal Poppy Cultivation in India-Myanmar borderlands: livelihood, social polarization and mobility

When the Manipur crisis broke out in May 2023, it was seen as purely an ethnic problem between the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zo communities. Meiteis comprise a little more than half of the population in Manipur and are mainly dwellers of the Imphal valley that roughly covers 10 percent of the provincial land. The minorities, unequally divided between the Kuki-Zo and Nagas, primarily live in the hill areas that comprise 90 percent land of the Manipur province.