IMPHAL — Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh claimed on Tuesday that Myanmar immigrants are responsible for deforestation, poppy cultivation, and drugs menace in the state. In a series of social media posts, the Chief Minister said that the state government will continue to give utmost priority to the protection of Manipur and its entire indigenous people. “To protect the state, the government has launched a green Manipur campaign, identified the occupied reserve forest lands, promoted fruits and vegetables farming and destroyed all the hidden poppy fields. The drive against narcotics is now in full swing,” Singh said. The Chief Minister’s assertion is significant as incidents of violence, including arsoning and vandalisation of government properties, were triggered last week after the tribals launched fresh protests against the state government’s action against illegal poppy cultivation by destroying poppy fields in the forest land, especially in the reserve and protected forests in the hilly areas. Attaching photographs of two arrested drug peddlers, the Chief Minister tweeted: “These are the people who are destroying our generation. They are destroying our natural forests to plant poppy, and further igniting communal issues to carry out their drugs smuggling business.” Read: Jagdeep Dhankhar to visit Manipur...