Resuming border trade: Misplaced priority?
|
The report that India and Myanmar have discussed the importance of resuming border trade through roads and agreed to take steps on the same issue evokes mixed feelings. It was way back in 1994 that a formal border trade agreement was signed between India and Myanmar. It became operational on April 12, 1995 with Moreh on the Indian side and Tamu on the other side as trading points. No doubt, resuming border trade between the two neighbouring countries is important. At the same time one cannot help asking if the situation is favourable enough on either side of the international border for resuming border trade through land route. Tamu has seen a fair share of the bloody battles raging across Myanmar in the war between the military junta and rebels. The situation is no better on the Indian side of the border with Kuki militants and their supporters waging a sustained and premeditated war against the Meiteis. If the unrest and violence have calmed down in Tamu region, it is indeed a positive development. Still a durable peace is far more desirable for the border trade to flourish. With many ethnic armed organisations operating in the border region and the war between these groups and the military junta still raging across Myanmar, whether trade and business activities can be carried out peacefully through Tamu and Moreh under the prevailing situation is a million dollar question. Is the situation at Moreh any better? We fear not. It is true that there have been no reports of any major violence from Moreh during the past couple of months. Yet, it will be far from truth if anyone dares to claim that peace has returned to the border town. At the best, one can say uneasy calm prevails in Moreh.
Before 1992, Moreh was a multicultural trading town with a mixed population of Meiteis, Nagas, Kukis, Tamils, Meitei Pangals (Muslims), Marwaris, Gurkhas, Punjabis, Bengalis, Bihari, etc. The Tamil festival, Pongal, and the Meitei festival, Lai Haraoba, were more popular in the town than Christmas. Although the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi won the election in Myanmar in 1990, the military junta refused to transfer power. The junta also launched massive crackdowns on protesting masses, including ethnic minorities. As a result, thousands of Kuki migrants sought refuge at Moreh. They illegally settled in places like Chavangphai and Kanan Veng thereby drastically changing the demography of Moreh. During the Naga-Kuki clash of early 1990’s, almost all Naga (Tangkhul) people from were flushed out from Moreh. Again, the entire Meitei population was driven out of Moreh during the first couple of weeks of the Kuki offensive launched on May 3, 2023. Thus Kukis took control of the border town. After cleansing Meiteis from Moreh, Kuki militants and their supporters made every attempt to block the entry of state forces in Moreh because as long as state forces are stationed in Moreh, Meetei people will come back and resettle in the border town. As indicated unmistakably by the cleansing of Nagas and Meiteis from the border town one after another, Kukis have long been planning to bring Moreh under their exclusive control. But any trading centre of a multi-ethnic state like Manipur will never flourish if it is controlled by a single community exclusively. It is the responsibility of Government of Manipur and the Government India to preserve the cosmopolitan and plural character of Moreh and protect it at any cost. The state should take up immediate necessary steps to resettle the Meitei victims of Moreh as well as Tangkhuls and Paites who have been uprooted from the border town. In another word, any process to resume border trade between India and Myanmar through Moreh and Tamu should be preceded by or go hand in hand with resettlement of all the inhabitants of Moreh. At the same time, there must be foolproof security for all the denizens. In fact, resettlement of displaced people, ensuring foolproof security and durable peace must be the first priorities of the state. If these priorities are misplaced, any attempt to resume the border trade is most likely to backfire.
Before 1992, Moreh was a multicultural trading town with a mixed population of Meiteis, Nagas, Kukis, Tamils, Meitei Pangals (Muslims), Marwaris, Gurkhas, Punjabis, Bengalis, Bihari, etc. The Tamil festival, Pongal, and the Meitei festival, Lai Haraoba, were more popular in the town than Christmas. Although the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi won the election in Myanmar in 1990, the military junta refused to transfer power. The junta also launched massive crackdowns on protesting masses, including ethnic minorities. As a result, thousands of Kuki migrants sought refuge at Moreh. They illegally settled in places like Chavangphai and Kanan Veng thereby drastically changing the demography of Moreh. During the Naga-Kuki clash of early 1990’s, almost all Naga (Tangkhul) people from were flushed out from Moreh. Again, the entire Meitei population was driven out of Moreh during the first couple of weeks of the Kuki offensive launched on May 3, 2023. Thus Kukis took control of the border town. After cleansing Meiteis from Moreh, Kuki militants and their supporters made every attempt to block the entry of state forces in Moreh because as long as state forces are stationed in Moreh, Meetei people will come back and resettle in the border town. As indicated unmistakably by the cleansing of Nagas and Meiteis from the border town one after another, Kukis have long been planning to bring Moreh under their exclusive control. But any trading centre of a multi-ethnic state like Manipur will never flourish if it is controlled by a single community exclusively. It is the responsibility of Government of Manipur and the Government India to preserve the cosmopolitan and plural character of Moreh and protect it at any cost. The state should take up immediate necessary steps to resettle the Meitei victims of Moreh as well as Tangkhuls and Paites who have been uprooted from the border town. In another word, any process to resume border trade between India and Myanmar through Moreh and Tamu should be preceded by or go hand in hand with resettlement of all the inhabitants of Moreh. At the same time, there must be foolproof security for all the denizens. In fact, resettlement of displaced people, ensuring foolproof security and durable peace must be the first priorities of the state. If these priorities are misplaced, any attempt to resume the border trade is most likely to backfire.