Chennai:
The past several weeks have been
really harsh on all of us here in TN with demonetisation, demise of former CM
Jayalalithaa, and Cyclone Vardah thrashing us in consecutive waves even as we
cope with the new realities and struggle to move on. But all these troubles
faced by 78-odd million citizens of TN amount to very little when compared with
that faced by the hundreds of Tamil families stuck in the landlocked state of
Manipur.
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| Moreh |
Situated in the scenic Kabaw valley
bordering Myanmar right on Asian Highway 1 and dubbed as the gateway to the SE,
is the tiny trading town of Moreh. Bright sunshine, lush green vegetation interspersed
with tall teakwood trees, small-framed men and slender women with well-defined
noses and cheeks smeared with thanakha, a tree-bark paste -- the
local equivalent of sunscreen lotion -- welcome visitors to the border town.
Although Moreh spans across merely
three-square kilometres, this piece of land is home to virtually all the major
communities found in the country, including Tamils, Punjabis, Bengalis and
Nepalis, not to mention the Meiteis, Kukis and several other hill tribes who
have settled here in phases over the past several decades.
Until a few years ago, more than 3000
Tamil families lived in Moreh and the community was among the most influential
and prominent. The Moreh Tamil Sangam, the cultural and social organization here
that has been active since the mid-1960s when the town was little more than a
handful of shops and teakwood cabins, is the oldest association here and
continues to run free schools besides engaging in other charity work.
With decades of insurgency and
economic slowdown continuing to strangle the north-east, the Tamil population
in Moreh has dwindled to a mere 400 families, most of whom have migrated from
Myanmar in the 1960’s after General Ne Win came to power and order expulsion of
all non-indigenous people from their country. These 400 odd Tamil
families that remain in Moreh have been put to untold misery of late due to an
economic blockade that has been going on now for over 50 days now with no end
in sight.
According to Khaja Mohideen, media
coordinator of the Moreh Tamil Sangam, the economic blockade has completely
choked the lives of all residents of Moreh including the Tamil families. “The
prices have risen so much that it is impossible to purchase even essential
commodities. A kilogram of salt costs Rs. 50/- while a litre of petrol now
costs around Rs. 350/-. We have been paying more than Rs. 3000/- for an LPG
cylinder. While the huge surge in prices is a concern, what is more worrying is
that there is a huge shortage of goods even if one is willing to pay the price,”
Khaja says.
A lifelong resident of Moreh, Khaja
lives with his wife and children close to the international border that India
shares with Myanmar and runs a retail shop selling utensils and other household
items.
Not just Khaja but a vast majority of
the Tamils settled in Moreh are businessmen. The economic blockade has been
especially harsh on the Tamil population who are unable to export or import
goods as the only two major highways leading to Imphal and then Moreh have been
blocked by the United Naga Council, who have been protesting against the state
government’s proposal to create seven new districts in the state. Over the past few weeks alone, at least 50
private vehicles transporting goods from outside the state to Imphal have been
torched bringing goods movement to a complete halt.
Khaja says that with the two arterial
roadways blocked, they are unable to bring their goods from Dimapur in
Nagaland, which is the closest railway station, by road. “Goods worth several
lakh rupees are stuck in Dimapur while we are struggling for want of
essentials,” he says.
The most recent economic blockade and
resulting violence, however, is not the first occasion when the state of
Manipur has been on the boil. The people of Manipur, especially the Tamil
community in Moreh, are used to all this. “When people talk about the suffering of
Tamils, only our brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka are remembered whereas we
have been going through so much trouble since the 1960’s and have weathered all
the storms that came our way,” Khaja says.
Among
the earliest settlers in Moreh, the first Tamil families that moved here
arrived from different parts of Myanmar during the 60’s. Their ancestors had
been living in the country formerly known as Burma for generations and had
migrated to the SE Asian country mostly during the early 1800s when Myanmar
also came under the combined British administration. The first group of
migrants were primarily government servants who were posted in the country and
worked for the British. They were soon followed by the businessmen from central
and southern TN who set up business establishments and prospered until the
1960s when they were expelled from the country. Upon returning to India, most
of these Burmese Tamils found it hard to cope with the changed business
environment in TN and decided to settle down close to the Myanmar border in
Moreh. With help from friends and relatives who still lived in Myanmar, they
set up shops in the border town and made a life for themselves. Over the years,
cross-border trade – both legal and clandestine – thrived in Moreh and its Tamil
settlers began to prosper.
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| Sree Angala Parameswari temple |
But, life has never been
easy in their adopted land. As the Tamil and other businessmen from different
parts of India began to prosper and control much of the trade along the
Indo-Myanmar border, they faced stiff resistance from the indigenous tribes
including the Nagas, Kukis and dozens of other communities who had always been
warring with each other and were less prosperous. Violent clashes have broken out between the
Tamils and the Nagas, Tamils and Kukis in which several people were injured,
homes were razed to the ground and businesses were destroyed. When the situation
continued to remain unsafe, a majority of the settlers shifted out of Moreh and
settled down in their hometowns in TN.
Presently, only 400
families remain in Moreh and continue to run their businesses despite the
unstable environment. The economically strong Tamil community has also built a
huge TN-style shrine called the Sri Angala Parameswari Temple, the second
largest south Indian temple in the entire North East region. The temple, which spreads across
approximately five acres of land sits right on the international border and was
being renovated when this writer last visited Moreh in 2015.
Secretary of the Tamil
Sangam, Subramani who is also a lifelong resident of the border town then said
that the Sangam was insistent on building a solid, massive structure as after a
few decades, the temple might be the only remaining monument to prove that a
vibrant Tamil community once lived and thrived in Moreh. With the latest
imbroglio posing yet another challenge to the Tamil populace in Moreh,
Subramani’s prediction might turn out to be true sooner than he had
anticiipated.
But, despite the odds
Khaja remains defiant and hopeful. “We are used to all this and will survive.
We have seen and overcome so much that this is nothing in comparison,” he said.
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