The story of the Tamil settlement in Moreh, Manipur on the Burma border

Here's the link to my previous entry
http://thecluelessrider.blogspot.in/2014/04/a-town-called-moreh-somewhere-on-burma.html


Moreh is a place 100 Km to the east of Imphal on the Burma border. To be honest, there is nothing noteworthy about this town / village that people would want to live there - let alone visit. But history has been kind to this place. When the British empire left the subcontinent and national boundaries were being redrawn, Moreh got a good deal. It became the town which separated one country from the other, and that changed its destiny. The destiny did not change overnight. It took time and it took a race of people completely different from the indigenous tribes of people inhabiting these parts.

The northeast, in general is a place with a demographically diverse set of people and Moreh is no different. However when one of these sets is a Tamil population, one can be pardoned for being surprised to say the least. After all it is quite an inaccessible place miles away from Tamil Nadu and not really a place with its inherent militancy issues, that would prod people to migrate in search of a livelihood. No wonder the first time I heard it I was very much intrigued.

To understand how a Tamil population ended up here one has to go back to the time when the sun hadn't set on the British empire and the whole of India and Burma were under British rule. A lot of Tamilians had set off to Burma during that time to work there and when the British left in 1947, the Tamil population stayed back in Burma as they had built a thriving community over generations. However in the 1960's when the military junta government took over Burma, a lot of the non indigenous communities fearing atrocities, headed back to their original host countries although I may add quite a few stayed back. These Tamil communities reaching Tamil Nadu, 2 to 3 generations down did not feel very welcome in Tamil Nadu and decided to go back to Burma. The political situation in Burma being what it was, the only route to go back was via the land route through Moreh. They took that route and reached the Moreh village (I was told by the Tamil population residing there that Moreh at that time was just a jungle and even today when I have visited that place, I am still confused as to whether it can be called a town) to cross over to the Burmese side. The Burmese authorities denied them permission to enter the country and these people just settled down in Moreh. One really has to admire their industriousness as slowly they set up a trade chamber for the import / export of commodities across the border using their erstwhile connections across the border to good effect.

The period from the late 60's to well in the 90's business was good. At one point there were close to 1500 (from what the people over there told me) Tamil families living in Moreh. In monetary terms it was significant enough and wresting authority and control over this trade was a lucrative proposition for everyone involved. Aided with the absence of the law and order machinery, the Tamil groups had their own sets of gangs with muscle men armed with sticks dictating the power equations in that region. Border towns everywhere are notorious for the smuggling of expensive goods and contraband substances and Moreh was no different. Allegations flew thick and fast (and maybe there is some truth to it) that the Tamil gangs also had their interests in the drug trafficking arena. Pretty soon word started spreading about the flourishing inter border trade and slowly other players wanting a share of the pie started getting interested.

The lure of wealth attracts a lot of unwanted elements and sometimes it changes the existing power equations. Underground militias from the indigenous Manipuri tribes started taking interest and pretty soon they neutralized the Tamil gangs prevalent in these parts. After all the militias from the indigenous tribes came with guns. Stick wielding Tamil musclemen gangs were no match for the gun wielding militias. Presently as is the common knowledge in these parts militias from the Kuki tribes are the helm of the power hierarchies in this region and the Tamil gangs fight for dominance are restricted to their own communities.

Another thing adding to the woes of the Tamil community is the fact that since the late 90's and early 2000's Chinese goods started flooding the Burmese markets and demand for Indian goods reduced considerably. The changed power equations and the Chinese goods flooding the Burmese market have hit the fortunes for a lot of Tamil families, who were just modest small time traders. They no longer found Moreh lucrative enough to reside in. A lot of them have left the place for good. Still there are some 400 odd families left in Moreh and the Moreh chamber of commerce is still headed by a Tamil body. There is a Tamil mandir replete with Tamil architecture and a Tamil Sangam (sort of an NGO) which has pretty well ensured that the Tamil culture is preserved in this community. 

Moreh is undoubtedly one of the most cosmopolitan villages I have encountered on my motorcycle trip. Apart from the Tamil community, there are some 4 to 5 Sikh families, laborers from Bihar, Jharkhand & Orissa, some families from Andhra, a sprinkling of people from a few other states and of course the local Kuki and Meitei people. These people live under the shadow of the gun with the militia pretty much running a parallel government. But human beings everywhere are survivors. As the Tamil guy I was chatting up with in the evening told me "There are some 5 to 6 underground groups active here. We pay taxes to all of them and yes to the policemen too"

Oh yes btw the next morning I had idly sambhar for breakfast. Something for the stereotypes :)  

The Tamil community in Moreh helped me when I was stranded in Moreh with only Rs 120 in my pocket. You can read that story here
http://thecluelessrider.blogspot.in/2014/06/the-world-is-much-kinder-place-than.html

About Me:

A 7 month motorcycle ride that took me to every state in India, parts of Nepal and Bhutan and one town in Burma. These blog entries are inspired by this trip. Stories about people I met, stories about places I saw. Things that intrigued me, things that amused me. They say traveling changes you, they say traveling inspires you and they say a lot of other stuff. I don't know. I think a gun on the head is a better way to change people. I just hope that my travel stories entertain you

Right now I am in the process of writing a book based on this trip and figuring out the difference between a writer's block and procrastination.

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