In strife-torn Moreh, Myanmar children bring a sliver of hope
A border town in ethnic conflict-scarred Manipur is seeing a faint revival of activity, aided by a few education-seeking children from civil war-affected Myanmar.
A couple of pre-primary schools in Moreh, a town located on the India-Myanmar border, about 110 km southeast of Manipur's capital Imphal, began enrolling children from Myanmar in January. These schools, which offer free education, are run by the Border Trade & Chamber of Commerce and the Tamil Sangam.
The Tamil Sangam is an association largely comprising descendants of Tamils who fled a crackdown on non-natives following the 1962 military coup in Burma, now Myanmar.
In line with Moreh's multi-ethnic character, the two organisations established three free educational centres named The All Community Welfare School in 1997. At present, two of these schools are operational.
The third school, in Shantinagar area, was shut down due to a lack of students. Most of its students were Meiteis who left the area with their families after conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities broke out on May 3, 2023.
'We did enrol 10 Myanmar students in 2024, but their attendance was erratic due to the situation on either side of the border. The 15 Myanmar students we admitted in January this year have been regular,' Hempao Haokip, headmaster of the school in Ward No. 6, told The Hindu. The school and the Tamil Sangam office are situated about 300 metres from the India-Myanmar border.
Trading while waiting
The regular attendance of these children, and a few others at the second school in Ward No. 3, is attributed to their mothers, who accompany them to school at 8 a.m. and wait until classes end at 1 p.m.
'A few days after they started accompanying their wards to school, these women sought permission to bring rice, vegetables, and other farm products and utility items to sell while they waited for their children. We relented on humanitarian grounds, particularly as people on either side of the border have suffered because of the collapse of business,' said an officer of the paramilitary Assam Rifles, which guards the India-Myanmar border. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity.
Following these women, other traders from Myanmar - some of Nepalese origin - began entering Moreh to sell goods, operating within a four-hour window. 'We wind up by noon to be back home well before sundown,' said one of the traders, who declined to be named.
These traders formerly operated from Namphalong, an abandoned market complex in Myanmar about 100 metres from the Indo-Myanmar Friendship Gate, once the main point of entry and exit for citizens of both countries.
Security personnel posted at the border said cross-border movement became more restricted after the Centre announced in February 2024 that the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar would be scrapped. The FMR had permitted border residents to travel up to 16 km into each other's countries without documentation.
The restrictions were eased after the Centre decided in December 2024 to allow cross-border movement for residents up to 10 km from the international boundary. It was also announced that the Assam Rifles would issue 'border passes' at 43 designated points to regulate such movement.
A series of blows
Moreh, a key node in the Act East Policy launched in 2014 to deepen India's economic and strategic ties with Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific, was once a thriving commercial town. However, its fortunes declined first with the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, and then further after the February 2021 military coup in Myanmar and the outbreak of ethnic conflict in Manipur in 2023.
'A series of setbacks beyond our control has broken the backbone of trade in this once-bustling town. Whatever little trade is happening today is a struggle for survival for people on both sides of the border,' Surinder Singh Patheja, secretary of the Border Trade & Chamber of Commerce said.
Traders in Moreh believe that the Kuki-dominated town can regain its commercial vibrancy only if all stakeholders, including the Meiteis, resume business activity. The Meiteis of Imphal Valley, who once made up 70% of the buyer base, have largely avoided travelling to Moreh since the conflict erupted.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
7 hours ago
- The Hindu
Plea to shift Myanmar Kuki detainees from Imphal jail
The Kuki Organisation for Human Rights (KOHUR) has petitioned Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), seeking the transfer of 64 Myanmar nationals of Kuki ethnicity from the Imphal Central Jail to 'temporary prisons' in the Kuki-dominated districts of the State. In a separate memoranda addressed to Mr. Bhalla and NHRC Chairperson, Justice V. Ramasubramanian, on July 25, the rights organisation raised serious constitutional and humanitarian concerns over the continued detention of the Myanmar nationals. It highlighted the case of two of them, who have remained in jail despite completing their sentences. The KOHUR said the detention of the Myanmar nationals was a 'grave violation' of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which guarantees the right to life and personal liberty, and a breach of international human rights conventions to which India is a signatory. The organisation referred to earlier gubernatorial notifications that permitted the relocation of Indian Kuki under-trial prisoners from Imphal and other sensitive zones to temporary prisons in the Kuki-dominated districts, such as Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, and Tengnoupal. The KOHUR statement, signed by its chairman, H.S. Benjamin Mate, pointed out that the Myanmar detainees share deep cultural, linguistic, and familial ties with the indigenous Kukis of Manipur. It said that denying these detainees relocation based on nationality 'constitutes discriminatory treatment' and the continued detention of individuals beyond their sentence was 'a clear instance of arbitrary incarceration and a miscarriage of justice'. Centres for civil service exams placed outside State Meanwhile, the Delhi and NCR unit of the Kuki Students' Organisation has objected to the decision of the Manipur Public Service Commission (MPSC) to conduct its upcoming Mains examination in Assam's Guwahati instead of Churachandpur district in Manipur, 'widely considered a safe zone' for Kuki students. In a letter to the Manipur Governor, the students' body said the decision was unjust and burdensome, especially for aspirants from the Kuki community who have been displaced or affected by the protracted violence in the State. It underscored the disproportionate impact such logistical decisions have on conflict-affected communities. 'If this request is not heeded, Kuki students in Delhi and across India may perceive this as an act of suppressing the educational opportunities of a particular community,' the organisation stated.
The Hindu
8 hours ago
- The Hindu
In strife-torn Moreh, Myanmar children bring a sliver of hope
MOREH (Manipur) A border town in ethnic conflict-scarred Manipur is seeing a faint revival of activity, aided by a few education-seeking children from civil war-affected Myanmar. A couple of pre-primary schools in Moreh, a town located on the India-Myanmar border, about 110 km southeast of Manipur's capital Imphal, began enrolling children from Myanmar in January. These schools, which offer free education, are run by the Border Trade & Chamber of Commerce and the Tamil Sangam. The Tamil Sangam is an association largely comprising descendants of Tamils who fled a crackdown on non-natives following the 1962 military coup in Burma, now Myanmar. In line with Moreh's multi-ethnic character, the two organisations established three free educational centres named The All Community Welfare School in 1997. At present, two of these schools are operational. The third school, in Shantinagar area, was shut down due to a lack of students. Most of its students were Meiteis who left the area with their families after conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities broke out on May 3, 2023. 'We did enrol 10 Myanmar students in 2024, but their attendance was erratic due to the situation on either side of the border. The 15 Myanmar students we admitted in January this year have been regular,' Hempao Haokip, headmaster of the school in Ward No. 6, told The Hindu. The school and the Tamil Sangam office are situated about 300 metres from the India-Myanmar border. Trading while waiting The regular attendance of these children, and a few others at the second school in Ward No. 3, is attributed to their mothers, who accompany them to school at 8 a.m. and wait until classes end at 1 p.m. 'A few days after they started accompanying their wards to school, these women sought permission to bring rice, vegetables, and other farm products and utility items to sell while they waited for their children. We relented on humanitarian grounds, particularly as people on either side of the border have suffered because of the collapse of business,' said an officer of the paramilitary Assam Rifles, which guards the India-Myanmar border. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity. Following these women, other traders from Myanmar - some of Nepalese origin - began entering Moreh to sell goods, operating within a four-hour window. 'We wind up by noon to be back home well before sundown,' said one of the traders, who declined to be named. These traders formerly operated from Namphalong, an abandoned market complex in Myanmar about 100 metres from the Indo-Myanmar Friendship Gate, once the main point of entry and exit for citizens of both countries. Security personnel posted at the border said cross-border movement became more restricted after the Centre announced in February 2024 that the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar would be scrapped. The FMR had permitted border residents to travel up to 16 km into each other's countries without documentation. The restrictions were eased after the Centre decided in December 2024 to allow cross-border movement for residents up to 10 km from the international boundary. It was also announced that the Assam Rifles would issue 'border passes' at 43 designated points to regulate such movement. A series of blows Moreh, a key node in the Act East Policy launched in 2014 to deepen India's economic and strategic ties with Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific, was once a thriving commercial town. However, its fortunes declined first with the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, and then further after the February 2021 military coup in Myanmar and the outbreak of ethnic conflict in Manipur in 2023. 'A series of setbacks beyond our control has broken the backbone of trade in this once-bustling town. Whatever little trade is happening today is a struggle for survival for people on both sides of the border,' Surinder Singh Patheja, secretary of the Border Trade & Chamber of Commerce said. Traders in Moreh believe that the Kuki-dominated town can regain its commercial vibrancy only if all stakeholders, including the Meiteis, resume business activity. The Meiteis of Imphal Valley, who once made up 70% of the buyer base, have largely avoided travelling to Moreh since the conflict erupted.
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
‘Centre trying to diminish Keeladi excavation report'
'The Union government was trying to diminish the Keeladi excavation report only to prove its point that India's cultural history started from Gangetic plains,' said writer Aadhavan Dheetchanya of Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Artists Association. The forum observed a fast outside Keeladi museum here on Saturday. Mr. Dheetchanya said that by exaggerating the archaeological evidence from the Gangetic plains, it devalued the very ancient Tamil culture. 'By doing that, they try to prove that the India's history started from Aryans' entry into India,' he added. Further, he said that the Keeladi excavation report, which emphasized that civilization started about 3,500 years ago, if released, would completely shatter its 'false' narrative. 'As the study has found that Keeladi was a trade centre and the objects' age found there went back to 2,500 years, it was evident that the presence of humans and their creation of civilization was much older than that,' Mr. Dheetchanya stated. As the government, its role was only to publish the report and not to criticise or comment on the report. 'It is the role of researchers, scientists, historians and others to opine on the findings,' he noted. While the government questions the report based on several scientific studies, archaeologist Amarnath Ramakrishna, who penned the report after excavating remnants from 102 pits, was clear that he could not resubmit it. By not adhering to its demand, Mr. Ramakrishna had made it clear that he could not play as per its wish, Mr. Dheetchanya said. Moreover, the fight for proving the history of Tamils was not based on some rhetoric evidence, but with the support of proven facts and evidence, he said.
