Re: Manipur, Social Conflict and HIV

[Guest guest]

Dear Geoff Heaviside,

We the National Addiction Research Centre (NARC) Mumbai used to be

very active in the north east India from 1988-1995 and continue to

maintain links with people there.

I am happy to hear that atlast the Ausaid money will come and

progress would be made.

Some of my comments below may be critical ones. Use them for what

they are worth.

1. The total number of IDUs in Manipur is not more than 30,000

2. The much publicised ICMR-WHO intervention did not arrest the rate

of incidence. It moved upward from 40 to 72%.

3. After much wrangling, the State has officially permitted harm

minimization strategies.

4. By a look at the drug seizure statistics, one would think that

Manipur and indeed the entire north east is a haven of cannabis. It

used to grow even within the ICMR compound!

5. The Indian law provides for maintenance on opium and cannabis.

6. I wonder why no one has launched a controlled action research on

maintenance with different substances: opium, cannabis, methadone,

buprenorphine. I had written a long note on this earlier.

7. There is a larger issue at stake:

a) Permanent presence of military and para military in most parts of

North East for the past fifty years which has a corollary of massive

human rights violations, repression and counter action.

There is a strong link between prolonged armed conflicts, life

styles of militants, break down of health services (both public and

private) and the use of drugs and HIV.

c) One has to counter at a mass level the utter alienation and a

sense of hopelessness among the youth in the region. This is typical

of aboriginals/ indegenous population in your own country or Canada

for instance.

I am very happy to learn that you would be working in Manipur.

All of us wish you and your team the very best. Let us keep in

touch.

We are working on a draft paper on armed conflicts and HIV in

Kashmir, N.E. and a bit of Sri Lanka. May take a couple of months

more. Our earlier paper may be of interest to you:

you may visit http://www.unesco.org/most/globalisation/drugs_1.htm

for the final research report on " Globalization, drugs and

Criminalization " (3 volumes). We have contributed two papers.

Yours in solidarity,

BRITTO

Director: NARC

Mumbai

E-mail: premag@...

[Guest guest]

Dear Britto,

It is indeed a pleasure to see your note in this list, its rare! We remember,

with a smile, your endeavours in Manipur and your support in our work. With our

(the Centre for Organisation Research & Education - CORE)warmest greetings to

you and all at NARC, we would like to supplement your note - again for whatever

it is worth - with a another larger issue.

The march of so-called " globalisation " and its accompanying muses -economic

liberalisation, privatisation, unfair trade regimes, " terrorism_ related " panic

laws and administrative responses, to name a few - have not spared the NE

region either. The long term militarisation has also transformed itself into

" militarism " and the entire civil society and non-state organisations are also

within this well-rooted trend. Every space for negotiation and econciliation is

shrinking, and violence underpins every social

transaction within this wide mosaic of indigenous nations and peoples that

traditional inhabit this region.

We are heavily into advocacy and policy work, including facilitating

campaigns as best we can, whenever there is the space (democratic space is

shrinking dangerously in Manipur, and this is my main worry). You may have

some fond memories of the Churachandpur days, the place today is totally

anarchic - with people getting bumped off almost daily and no one to take

any responsibility for this - forget the government, its stopped functioning

and lost its legitimacy long ago. A vacuum has appeared which the non-state

organisations are not able to fill nor claim with any real wide support.

This will eventually lead to a Cambodia type situation, or Somalia -

politically and socially.

We join you in wishing AusAID well in their step into the NE Region in

this field.

Cheers

Bobbie (Roy Laifungbam)

CORE, Manipur

Nongmeibung Nambam Chuthek

Imphal 795001

Tel : +91 385 244 4845

E-mail: coremanipur@..., core_ne@...

[Guest guest]

Hello ,

Thanks for your concern for the NE,Iam a journalist based in

Imphal manipur. I have done some articles on HIV AIDS including

some for the UNAIDS portal and I am concerned about what is

happening here. The problem here is multifaceted just as you have

pointed out. There are so many pressure points working at the same

time.

I share opinion with Geoff that +ve people should be empowered and

enabled to sustain themselves. surprisingly they end up as

patients, their numbers being quoted from time time for NGOs to

make money. while I do not cast doubt on all NGOs working in the

field, there are several in Manipur whose working style leaves a

lot to be desired. I am sure whenever there is smell of funds they

will come flocking. Their balance sheet runs into crores of rupees

but we hardly see any work at the ground zero.

Even the state nodal agency sufferes from the same problem.

Sometime they even do not encourage free helps. While they try to

sensitise the media from time to time when the media extends its

hand they shy away.

For example I edit a local news channel. I offered to run tickers

for free highlighting the HIV AIDS situation during the news. All

I asked was the monthly figures. It came in for the first two

months or so than nothing. I have reminded them but they would

rather send out advertisement.

If you are interested in +ve people MNP+ in Manipur is the group.

Widows in Manipur also have formed self Help groups.

I know we cannot do without the NGOs but it would be more

fruitful if you go directly to the +ve people. They are the ones

wearing the shoe and they know where it pricks.

Cheers

Yumnam Rupachandra

Imphal

E-mail: <yumnamrupa@...>