Sepia-tinted memories : Tamil Nadu’s enduring links with Burma

    01-Mar-2021
|
Nahla Nainar
As the world trains its lens on Myanmar following a military-declared emergency, India’s Burma repatriates recall how they have kept their ties alive with the land of their birth
American journalist Gene Fowler’s sentiment that ‘news is history shot on the wing’ comes true nearly every day across the world. For many families in southern India, particularly Tamil Nadu, this has meant watching the declaration of military rule in Myanmar (formerly Burma) this month with more than just a passing interest, because the two regions share a history that goes back several centuries.
Emperor Rajendra Chola (1014-1044 AD), expanded his empire to the Bay of Bengal, including parts of southern Burma. As seen on several steles, Chola campaigns were conducted against territories in modern Burma, for example, Bago (near modern Yangon). By the mid-19th Century, Tamils migrated to Burma which was also a British colony annexed through the three Anglo-Burmese wars. Though Burma was separated from British India in 1937, just 10 years before the subcontinent would gain its own Independence from the Raj, the ties that bind have continued to hold.
There was a mass exodus of Indians from Burma after the Second World War and after the military dictatorship took over in 1963. Despite this, many maintain links with their family members who chose to stay on in Burma.
Explaining this unique relationship in an email interview with MetroPlus, Washington-based foreign policy analyst and writer Akhilesh Pillalamarri says, “In ancient times, Burma’s civilisation was influenced more by seafarers from South India. The Mon, an ancient tribe in the Irrawaddy delta of Lower Burma (coastal Burma), adopted a script based on the Tamil Pallava script and other influences from Southern India by around 200-500 AD. Later on, the Bamar (Burmese) to their North conquered the Mon and adopted these influences. There is also increased genetic evidence showing that some people, maybe Tamils, also emigrated to and assimilated with ancient Southeast Asian people. This occurred during the Kingdom of Pagan (849–1297 CE) which spread from Upper Burma to Lower Burma and assimilated the Mons to the Burmese people.”
Returning home
After the coup d’etat of 1962, which marked the political dominance of the army in Burma, Indian expatriates, were asked to either become citizens or leave the country. About 1,55,000 persons of Indian origin returned to India for good from Burma between 1963 and 1970. They were resettled in ‘Burma Colonies’ set up by the Indian Government in cities like Chennai, Tiruchi and Madurai.
Many of the affluent Chettiar community expatriates (who had made their name in finance and business) in Burma had started offshoring their earnings in India early on, but the bulk of the Tamil population—people working as indentured labourers, farmers, petty traders and professionals—had to leave at short notice.
“In 1965, I came with my younger brother and sister to India. My other relatives are still in Burma. My mother had said we were going for a wedding and would be back in two days, but only later did I realise that she had fooled me,” says M Sundarraj, a former mason who resettled in the Burma Colony in Navalpattu town near Tiruchi.
His neighbour S Govindan, a retired security guard at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), recounts his return with 15 family members by ship. “We were sent to the camp at Gummidipoondi where we were counselled about our future prospects. The Indian authorities advised us about where we could go, depending on our skills,” says Govindan.
Though originally from Ramanathapuram district, the two men relocated to Navalpattu because of the presence of BHEL and the Ordnance Factory Tiruchi (OFT) nearby. “It was a big culture shock for us. The poverty and climate were unbearable. But somehow, we managed to settle down here,” Govindan says.
One of his many co-passengers was A Panthanam, an 80-year-old homemaker whose mother was a Burmese National. “My father was a farmer [originally from Bhuvanthi near Madurai] and we were a family of 12 children. We hadn’t visited India in a long time. In the 1960s, Indian farmers feared losing their crops and property to Burmese guerrilla fighters, which is why my husband and I decided to return,” she says.
E Jaffersha travelled back voluntarily with his sister to Madurai in 1969, in the hope of studying Medicine. But life had other plans. “The savings sent by my father to my relatives for safekeeping got misused, and I was unable to join the PUC course that would help me get into college. I obtained a diploma in Homoeopathy after being trained by a doctor in Madurai and later got professionally licensed by the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchi,” he says.
While his sister was married to their cousin in Madurai, he tied the knot with a Burmese returnee. “The initial days were tough, but I was lucky to meet helpful people along the way. I even stood for local elections,” says Jaffersha, who runs a clinic from his home in Burma Colony, Gundur.
Indelible links
Sri Pilikan Muneeswarar Sri Angala Parameswari Thirukovil in Mathur, Pudukottai district, has been frequented by worshippers since 1963. Burma resides in the name of this temple (Pilikan or Pelikha is a village near Kyauktan, Myanmar), and also in the shrine’s foundation.
“This temple was built with a handful of soil from Burma in 1963. Since then, small amounts of the mud have been shared in Chennai, Thanjavur, Tiruchi Airport and Navalpattu to build temples in areas where Burmese returnees live,” says R Bhagyam, who has been its priest since the beginning.


(To be contd)