evidence: Kuki people as ‘poppy cultivators’, which became a popular narrative especially when the CM, his wife and some of his ministers were named in one of the largest drug-busts in Manipur. [...] Tribals in Manipur, particularly the Kuki-Zomi communities in Manipur, are engaged extensively in poppy cultivation. [...] And it is quite true. The Kuki-Zomi people have never been part of the Manipur Kingdom, and instead have always had their independent principalities. That is why they have never fitted into the idea of a "Manipuri people".