MorehLabourers from Myanmar sit on a truck loaded with bricks as they cross the Indo-Myanmar border bridge at the border town of Moreh, in Manipur, February 3, 2012.
A man rides his motorised two-wheeler across the Indo-Myanmar border bridge at the border
town of Moreh, in Manipur, January 25, 2012.
Labourers from Myanmar fill sacks with charcoal they brought from Myanmar to sell after
crossing the Indo-Myanmar border bridge at the border town of Moreh, in Manipur, February
3, 2012.
An Indian army soldier patrols as a woman walks past at a market in Moreh, in Manipur,
February 3, 2012.
An Indian shopkeeper selling goods from Myanmar waits for customers at the border town of
Moreh, in Imphal January 25, 2012.
India unprepared for new Myanmar
By Satarupa Bhattacharjya and Frank Jack Daniel
MOREH (Reuters) - As dusk falls on a lonely police station in the eastern tip of India, a young policeman nervously keeps an eye on the Arakan hills above him, dotted with poppy fields.
Just 22 bumpy miles from the capital of Manipur, he and his colleagues are outnumbered by gunmen from a faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, one of half a dozen insurgent groups operating near India's border with Myanmar.
Last year, six policemen were killed a few miles away in an ambush authorities blamed on them.
Small groups of men with machetes on their belts can be seen in the winter twilight, openly climbing steep paths through the poppy fields, where valuable seed heads will later be harvested and taken to Myanmar for processing into heroin.
"There are many poppy fields in the hills here," the policeman said in a hushed voice, refusing to give his name to Reuters for fear of reprisals from the men he said were armed rebels patrolling the fields above his office. Growers will either sell the seed heads to agents or openly in the local market , he said.
Opium and insurgency can make for a profitable if exotic business model, but it is not what India had in mind when it launched its "Look East" policy 20 years ago to link its markets to those of booming Southeast Asia.
Now as resource-rich Myanmar emerges from decades of isolation under military rule, India should be a natural partner, with ties stretching back to 3rd Century BC Buddhist emperor Ashoka and, more recently, a shared experience of British colonialism and World War Two.
Map of border area: link.reuters.com/zux66s
BRIDGE TO SOUTHEAST ASIA
"Myanmar is India's only bridge to Southeast Asia," Myo Myint, Myanmar's deputy foreign minister, told Reuters last week at a meeting of Southeast Asian diplomats in New Delhi to look at ways to speed up road, rail and telecoms connections with India. "India needs to come forward with assistance."
Myanmar sits at Asia's crossroads, sharing a western border with India, and a northern one with China. Thailand is its neighbour to the east and the Malacca Strait is on its southern flank.
The country of nearly 60 million people has emerged from a half-century of military rule and is courting the West while trying to wean itself from dependency on China for trade and investment. But despite a recent flurry of high-level visits between the two countries, India appears ill-placed on the ground to exploit Myanmar's opening.
Reuters journalists on a recent trip to the Myanmar-India border in Manipur found a region where rebel groups deeply influence politics and business. Opium poppies are grown openly. Cross-border gun-running remains big business.
Manipur and the three other Indian states sharing the 1,640- km (1,020-mile) border with Myanmar were supposed to be India's "Gateway to the East". Instead, the area has become India's Wild East.
Legal trade on the border has dwindled in the last five years to just 0.15 percent of total commerce between Myanmar and India. Checkpoints by security forces and rebel group supporters make the 120 km (75 mile) journey along rutted Highway 102 through the hills from Manipur's capital Imphal to Moreh on the border a painstakingly slow -- and expensive, too, from the "taxes" they impose on traffic.
NO CRIME HERE
The sleepy border town of Moreh had dreams of being a major international trading centre, a key station on the ambitious Trans-Asia Railway that will enable containers from East and Southeast Asia to travel overland across India to Europe.
But work on the $900 million, 125 km (77 mile) stretch of the railway is already two years behind schedule and has only progressed a short distance. Costs are soaring.
At first glance, Moreh seems to be a quiet bazaar of traditional wooden stilt houses, frontier hotels and stores where Myanmarese Buddhist monks and tribespeople in traditional dress and sandal-paste painted faces mingle with traders from across India.
The town of 15,000 people has one bank.
"There is no crime here," acting police chief Akbar Hussein said, chewing on a lump of betel nut at his outdoor desk. "There was only one case registered this month, and that was a road accident."
Opened in 1995 to great fanfare, the Moreh crossing was supposed to be a major trading post by now. Only some small-scale merchants conduct legal trade. Much of that is on a barter system, exchanging flour and soy products for betel, a mild stimulant popular in India.
Despite the police chief's boast, Moreh is a major smuggling centre where outlaws move around freely. Heroin from the Golden Triangle, guns and gem stones go westward; raw opium, tiger bones and rhino horn move east.
"Since 1995, nothing substantial has taken place. The border area is like a 17th-century tribal village," said N. Mohindro, an expert on trade in the state. "It's all about drugs and guns. People can make money so easily."
Some of this business is in the hands of Indian insurgents who run their operations from the Myanmar side of the border. Several of Myanmar's own rebel groups are also based in the area.
A U.S. diplomatic cable from 2006 released by Wikileaks described local politicians either in league with the rebels or supporting them for financial reasons.
Local residents say security forces are also deeply involved in trafficking but a senior officer of the police intelligence branch in Imphal denies that.
"The dense forest cover in this open border region is a nightmare for us," the officer said of an unfenced 63 mile stretch running from Moreh, adding that "the easy availability of weapons inside Myanmar has worsened the situation".
IMAGINARY ROAD
It wasn't always this way. Until the early 1990s, Myanmarese flocked across the border to buy Indian-made consumer goods. But as China's workshops cranked up and offered cheaper, more durable products, the market shifted to the other side of the fence.
Now, traders from Imphal endure the serpentine journey along bumpy Highway 102 and its checkpoint shakedowns to visit the Namphalong bazaar on the Myanmar side of the Moreh border gate.
Their pick-up trucks are piled high with Chinese mattresses, refrigerators and TVs to sell back in India, returning along the same road that brought Japanese troops in World War Two through then Burma in an attempt to invade India. The trip from the border to Imphal carrying such contraband can involve payoffs along the way amounting to several hundred dollars.
Highway 102 was supposed to be part of a road network linking up with Mandalay, Myanmar's main city in the North, and on into Thailand. But the only notable improvement on the Indian side is a short patch running through the Manipur chief minister's home town.
"People had plans to open eateries, motels and shops along the Asian highway. Now, the trans-national road is imaginary. It does not exist here," said Lunminthang Haokip, a senior state government official for Moreh's Chandel district. "The Look East policy is no more than power-point presentations in Delhi."
The complaint is voiced often here by residents in Manipur who have suffered decades of rights abuses under draconian emergency powers including "shoot-to-kill" orders aimed at curtailing the insurgencies. Residents say New Delhi acts like a colonial power, with much of its mistrust of the region stemming from its relative proximity to China.
"The overwhelming presence of military, paramilitary and police officers contributed to the impression that Imphal was under military occupation," the U.S. embassy cable said. "The Indian civil servants were also clearly frustrated with their inability to stem the growing violence and anarchy in the state, feeling their efforts to effectively control the insurgencies was hamstrung by local politicians either in league with or at least through corruption, helping to finance the insurgents."
India, which fought a border war in 1962 with China, has watched with mounting concern as Beijing steadily increases its influence around the rim of the Indian Ocean.
"You can't leave the whole region under an iron curtain just because they look Chinese," said rights activist Babloo Loitongbam, in a restaurant left dark by one of the chronic power cuts in Imphal. "You have to constantly prove you are not anti-national."
Ten years ago India's foreign minister proposed reopening a World War Two highway to the north of Manipur called the Stilwell Road, which connects India's far eastern region, known as the Northeast, with Myanmar and China.
Worried that the road risked strengthening China's influence and the flow of militants and arms to the region, India dragged its feet and Myanmar turned to China's Yunnan Construction Engineering Group instead. India also missed out on the natural gas from two fields in Myanmar it has a stake in, when the government chose to pipe it to China.
During long years of self-imposed isolation, Myanmar's only major economic partner was China. India realised in the 1990s that Chinese investment in Myanmar's military and infrastructure was giving Beijing a strategic advantage in a nation that borders five countries, straddles busy Bay of Bengal shipping lanes and has large oil and gas reserves.
New Delhi quietly dropped its backing for the opposition party of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who went to school and university in India.
Ties have strengthened since then, with President Thein Sein just the latest of Myanmar's leaders to call on New Delhi on a visit to India last year.
Rajiv Bhatia, who was India's ambassador to Myanmar until 2005, says India is still more concerned with its South Asian neighbours, including Bangladesh and Pakistan, and could miss the moment.
"In pure geopolitical terms, Myanmar is hugely important to India. We are now getting a historic opportunity to recover our relationship," he said. " But it is still not a priority for our politicians."
(Editing by John Chalmers and Bill Tarrant)http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/02/26/india-myanmar-idINDEE81P00820120226
Published: December 25, 2013 00:06 IST | Updated: December 25, 2013 01:56 IST
Myanmar seals border, trade hit
Iboyaima Laithangbam
The HinduThe international boundary. File photo:Ritu Raj Konwar
The Myanmarese government on Tuesday sealed the international border, affecting bilateral trade. No Indian has been allowed to cross the border at international gate numbers I and II from 8 a.m.
There was a rally by Myanmarese at Namphalong and nearby areas on the Myanmar side on Tuesday morning. They shouted slogans demanding that India honour the international boundary.
With the sealing of the border, legalised border trade came to a halt. The traditional border trade was legalised in 1995. Foreign goods worth over Rs. 1 crore are brought every day to Manipur.
Manipur Home Minister Gaikhangam Gangmei had asked the Assam Rifles, manning the Manipur-Myanmar border, to be vigilant.
Following complaints from political parties in Manipur, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had asked the Border Roads Organisation to suspend the construction work on border fence. India has been saying the border dispute will be resolved at the diplomatic level. However, there was no response from Yangon.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/myanmar-seals-border-trade-hit/article5498404.ece
New Twist To Border Row Now, Myanmar blames India for encroachment, holds rally
Source: The Sangai Express
File pic of work going on at the site of the ICP, which Myanmar claims falls in their territoryImphal, December 24, 2013: In a new twist to the protracted India-Myanmar border fencing row, a large number of Myanmar Nationals staged a protest rally in their country today, demanding an instant halt of the ongoing construction of Integrated Check Post (ICP) building at Manipur's Moreh town.
They claim that the construction site belongs to Myanmar.
This came barely twenty days after Prime Minister Manmohen Singh assured an all political party delegation from Manipur that not an inch of land in Indian territory on Manipur border would be conceded to the neighboring country.
Manipur shares a 398-km border with Myanmar.
The ICP building is currently being constructed near Moreh gate No 1 to streamline and systematise the Indo-Myanmar commercial activities and in view of India's ambitious 'Look East Policy' even as a legion of Myanmar troops have stationed themselves along the porous border on their side, constraining the Indian forces to remain on high alert at Moreh.
Organized jointly by Tamu Youth Network (TYN) , Chin Win Youth Network (CWYN) and some political parties including the National League for Democracy (NLD), the rally kicked off from Namphalong area close to Moreh town around 8 am and marched up to Tamu district headquarters, about a distance of five Kms, a source informed The Sangai Express.
Numbering around 2000, the rallyists demanded that India stop construction of the ICP building till the border row is settled.
They claim that the construction site belongs to Myanmar.
This came barely twenty days after Prime Minister Manmohen Singh assured an all political party delegation from Manipur that not an inch of land in Indian territory on Manipur border would be conceded to the neighboring country.
Manipur shares a 398-km border with Myanmar.
The ICP building is currently being constructed near Moreh gate No 1 to streamline and systematise the Indo-Myanmar commercial activities and in view of India's ambitious 'Look East Policy' even as a legion of Myanmar troops have stationed themselves along the porous border on their side, constraining the Indian forces to remain on high alert at Moreh.
Organized jointly by Tamu Youth Network (TYN) , Chin Win Youth Network (CWYN) and some political parties including the National League for Democracy (NLD), the rally kicked off from Namphalong area close to Moreh town around 8 am and marched up to Tamu district headquarters, about a distance of five Kms, a source informed The Sangai Express.
Numbering around 2000, the rallyists demanded that India stop construction of the ICP building till the border row is settled.
They also urged India to respect international laws and the friendship relations between the two countries.
The Myanmar authorities have also sealed all border gates connecting between the two countries till noon even as the Assam Rifles, which is guarding the border areas in Chandel district, maintained a sharp vigil to face any eventualities.
The long-drawn-out border row snowballed after Myanmar troops attempted to open its camp at Hollenphai village 3 km south of Moreh police station August 22 claiming that the area lies within Myanmar map.
Many civil bodies and the Opposition parties of the State have expressed apprehension over Manipur losing large chunks of her territory due to the border fencing exercise, which has now been stopped following the Centre's instruction.
Taking serious note of the issue, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had on December 4 assured the State political delegation that Indian territory in Manipur's land would remain intact.
The following day Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde instructed the Border Roads Organization (BRO) to immediately stop the fencing work till the matter is resolved.
On December 7, a joint team of Central officials and a delegation of an all political party led by Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam inspected the border fencing along Moreh sector in Manipur.
The Myanmar authorities have also sealed all border gates connecting between the two countries till noon even as the Assam Rifles, which is guarding the border areas in Chandel district, maintained a sharp vigil to face any eventualities.
The long-drawn-out border row snowballed after Myanmar troops attempted to open its camp at Hollenphai village 3 km south of Moreh police station August 22 claiming that the area lies within Myanmar map.
Many civil bodies and the Opposition parties of the State have expressed apprehension over Manipur losing large chunks of her territory due to the border fencing exercise, which has now been stopped following the Centre's instruction.
Taking serious note of the issue, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had on December 4 assured the State political delegation that Indian territory in Manipur's land would remain intact.
The following day Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde instructed the Border Roads Organization (BRO) to immediately stop the fencing work till the matter is resolved.
On December 7, a joint team of Central officials and a delegation of an all political party led by Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam inspected the border fencing along Moreh sector in Manipur.
Senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Border Management, BRO, Surveyor General of India and Assam Rifles were part of the Central team.
Checkpost site at Moreh our land, says Myanmar
TNN | Dec 25, 2013, 03.43 AM IST
IMPHAL: In a new twist to the controversialIndia-Myanmar border issue, a large number of Myanmar nationals on Tuesday staged a protest rally in their country seeking immediate halt to the construction of an integrated checkpost (ICP) at Manipur's Moreh town. They claimed the construction site belonged to Myanmar.
This comes barely 20 days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured an all political party delegation from Manipur that not an inch of land in Indian territory on Manipur border would be conceded to the neighboring country. Manipur shares a 398-km border with Myanmar.
The ICP building is being constructed near Moreh gate No 1 to systematize Indo-Myanmarese commercial activities even as Myanmarese troops remain stationed along the border.
Organized jointly by Tamu Youth Network (TYN), Chin Win Youth Network (CWYN) and some political parties including the National League for Democracy (NLD), the rally began from Namphalong area adjacent to Moreh town around 8 am and marched up to Tamu town, about a distance of 5 km, a source said.
Numbering over 2,000, the activists demanded that India stop construction of the ICP building till the border row is settled. They also urged India to respect international laws and the friendly relationship between the two countries.
The Myanmar government also sealed all border gates connecting the two countries till noon even as Assam Rifles, which guards the border areas in Chandel district, remained on high alert.
The protracted border row compounded after Myanmar troops attempted to open a camp at Hollenphai village, 3 km south of Moreh police station, on August 22, claiming that the area lay within Myanmar.
Taking serious note of issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had on December 4 assured the state's political delegation that Indian territory in Manipur would remain intact. The following day, Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde instructed the Border Roads Organization (BRO) to stop fencing work immediately till the matter is resolved.
On December 7, a joint team of central officials and a all party delegation led by deputy chief minister Gaikhangam inspected the controversial border fencing along Moreh. Senior officials of Union home ministry, border management, BRO, surveyor general of India and Assam Rifles were alos present. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/Checkpost-site-at-Moreh-our-land-says-Myanmar/articleshow/27872516.cms
This comes barely 20 days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured an all political party delegation from Manipur that not an inch of land in Indian territory on Manipur border would be conceded to the neighboring country. Manipur shares a 398-km border with Myanmar.
The ICP building is being constructed near Moreh gate No 1 to systematize Indo-Myanmarese commercial activities even as Myanmarese troops remain stationed along the border.
Organized jointly by Tamu Youth Network (TYN), Chin Win Youth Network (CWYN) and some political parties including the National League for Democracy (NLD), the rally began from Namphalong area adjacent to Moreh town around 8 am and marched up to Tamu town, about a distance of 5 km, a source said.
Numbering over 2,000, the activists demanded that India stop construction of the ICP building till the border row is settled. They also urged India to respect international laws and the friendly relationship between the two countries.
The Myanmar government also sealed all border gates connecting the two countries till noon even as Assam Rifles, which guards the border areas in Chandel district, remained on high alert.
The protracted border row compounded after Myanmar troops attempted to open a camp at Hollenphai village, 3 km south of Moreh police station, on August 22, claiming that the area lay within Myanmar.
Taking serious note of issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had on December 4 assured the state's political delegation that Indian territory in Manipur would remain intact. The following day, Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde instructed the Border Roads Organization (BRO) to stop fencing work immediately till the matter is resolved.
On December 7, a joint team of central officials and a all party delegation led by deputy chief minister Gaikhangam inspected the controversial border fencing along Moreh. Senior officials of Union home ministry, border management, BRO, surveyor general of India and Assam Rifles were alos present. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/Checkpost-site-at-Moreh-our-land-says-Myanmar/articleshow/27872516.cms
Published: April 16, 2013 00:00 IST | Updated: April 16, 2013 06:11 IST
Tamil businessmen at Moreh forced to look for greener pastures
Iboyaima Laithangbam
Under normal circumstances the legalisation of border trade between India and Mynamar from May 12, 1995 after signing the agreements on January 22, 1994 should have benefited the countries, traders and businessmen. But over 15,000 Tamils who had been doing a roaring business at Moreh, the border town, were hit below the belt.
Unable to earn even a red cent in the changed trade scenario, these once well-off Tamils have started leaving Moreh to search for greener pastures. Those who stayed back are likely to migrate soon as there is no demand for Indian goods there.
For generations, the Indian businessmen had been in different cities in Myanmar, then known as Burma. In the late 1950s, life became stifling and unbearable. V. Sekhar, president of Tamil Sangam Moreh and Moreh Chamber of Commerce said many hamstringing restrictions were imposed on the Indian businessmen in Myanmar. For instance, if a trader had to attend a wedding or a funeral, he had furnish every minute detail considered unnecessary to the local authority. On arrival at the destination, he had to undergo the same tiring and irritating rigmarole. The slothful officials took their own time to verify the information furnished and issue the permitBy the time the Indian trader reached the house of the relative or friend, the wedding or funeral had already been done. Under the new regime, business was also sluggish.
Escaping harassment
To escape harassment, many businessmen and traders eventually elected to come to India, the land of their forefathers. Out of them, about 200 Tamils came to Moreh to start a business. In those days, Moreh was a primitive and nondescript tribal village whose only connection with the rest of the State was a part of Highway 39 constructed by the British. The government and politicians remembered them only on the eve of elections. The neglected tribals at Moreh and Molcham depended for everything on Myanmar. Their children went to schools across the border. Consumer items, medicines and other daily needs of life were brought from the Myanmarese markets. They preferred the Burmese Kyat to the Indian Rupee since they went to Myanmar for shopping.
The Tamils who converged there had not miscalculated since Moreh was transmogrified into an El Dorado within a few years. Most of the Tamils had a rags-to-riches story as they had to begin life afresh. Their population swelled to 13,000 in 1980.
But following the change in the trade scenario after the legalisation of the border trade; most of the Tamils who were left holding empty sacks left to start life afresh elsewhere. Presently, about 4,500 Tamils are staying and 3,600 of them are in the electoral rolls. But they are keeping their fingers crossed and may leave Moreh any day.
Before legalisation, Myanmamarese tribals brought various items on foot through the high mountains every morning. Moreh’s businessmen bought them in bulk to sell them in the evening at huge profit to tourists and traders from Imphal and other parts of the north east. The Myanmarese government had constructed a market at Namphalong shortly before the legalisation of the border trade just across the international gate. As it had sounded the death knell, there were obstructions and the Myanmarese government had to deploy army at the market. There were highway blockades, arsons in the market under construction, selling foreign goods at cheaper prices than the prevailing ones at Namphalong. But the tourists and traders, who flock there in thousands everyday, went to Namphalong . There is charm and thrill in shopping in a foreign country. Besides, there was more choice there. On the other hand, there was no demand for the Indian goods. For obvious reasons, prices of the Indian goods brought to Moreh are high. Quality wise, the Indian goods could not compete with the electronic gadgets marketed by China and other countries from South East Asia. After reading the writing on the wall, most of the Tamils started leaving Moreh.
Tamil population swelled to 13,000 by 1980 after they migrated to Moreh
Tourists and traders favour the Namphalong market to Moreh
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tamil-businessmen-at-moreh-forced-to-look-for-greener-pastures/article4621810.ece
Friday, 15 November 2013
MARCHANG REIMEINGAM
Seminar on Opening up, Co-operation and Economic Growth, Organised by SASS, Chengdu, China, 24-25th October 2013
Abstract: Moreh in Manipur (India), locating adjacent to the Namphalong Sagaing Division (Myanmar), serves as the major border trading hub in the North East India lying along the India-Myanmar border. North East Region (NER) of India is considered as the gateway to South, South East Asian, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economies. Moreh has an immense prospective for international trade and commerce through its borders. Both border trade and normal trade are practiced through Moreh. Using secondary data and literature the paper attempted to examine the nature of border trade practices and prospective by linking Moreh market with the counterpart Namphalong market in order to establish that border trade is immensely linked with the third economies like China which actually supply goods. The paper begins by broadly highlighting the situation of border trade and haats in the region. Then the two commercial hubs at the Indo-Myanmar border namely Moreh and Namphalong market are specifically discussed. The development and importance of Land Custom Station (LCS) and Integrated Check Post (ICP) in Moreh are examined. The value of Moreh border trade accounts to two percent of the total India-Myanmar trade. The volume of trade is affected by the bandh and strikes, insurgency, currency exchange rate and smuggling that led to an economic lost for traders and economy at large. India experiences a negative trade balance as the potential export items are not produced in Moreh area that necessitates the establishment of special economic zone in Moreh for producing exportable goods. China contributed considerably at the Moreh-Namphalong border trade as many cheap items such as electronic items or blankets which are sold at Namphalong market originated from Shweli in Yunnan Province in China as China is the largest Myanmar’s border trade partner. Establishment of Indo-Myanmar border trade through Moreh has benefited the local border people in terms of employment, infrastructural development and also improves trade and other relationship between India and Myanmar. Myanmar is critical for India not only for border trade partner but also for India’s Look East Policy for developing strategic and economic relations with East and South East Asian countries.
Monday Musings
By : Maisnam Chanu Liklainu
Shoppers cannot get enough of Namphalong
Going to Namphalong, I expected the Burmese would talk about the clamp down, illegal migrants and chucking the Junta out. To my utter surprise, they were painfully passive, they didn’t mention anything about the regime and it was clear that they only wanted to talk about the border town business. The military imagery we have of the country is very strong, the vigil of the security guards from both sides of the border, the proliferation of visitors and the eagerness of the people to set foot on Burmese soil. The buzzing market hour, the curfew waiting to be imposed, it all looked like a perfect setting for an eighteenth century wartime movie. Men with bags full of merchandise put their loads down, stretched and eased themselves. The nearby vendor’s fruit was fresh and the fish pulled out of the river were delivered to the table. A lot of local joints offered the Burmese fare. Vehicles carrying the people zoomed happily in and out of Namphalong.
The Meiteilon speaking Burmese amused us. The products that are exchanged from both sides of the border may not be massive in trading terms but the presence of this market cannot be ignored. For going there, the people don’t have to worry about the exchange rate as the Indian rupee is in circulation. The people meet on an everyday basis in the border town. The people to people contact seems to have stopped in Moreh, yet little is heard about the Burmese tourists in Imphal as the interaction is very limited. The country is close and yet so far giving us the picture of inaccessibility.
Aung Sang Suu Kyi still calls it Burma, the country is mystical and enigmatic .Calling the country Burma is catchy than saying Myanmar, the country conjures up images of mystery, terror and intrigues. Stories of Myanmar that thrilled us as kids, I remember, how a local guy disappeared from Imphal only to emerge from Burma later, married a Burmese, picked up the language and how he helped some dissidents.
Another thrilling story that circulated was a tale of a Burmese martial arts form called Tanq in our local parlance, how the practitioners were skillful artists, how they could make themselves invisible. Those things fascinated me and my curiosity of this not so distant land grew in my mind.
Exploring the Namphalong market, I noticed the flamboyance attracted the visitors. Cute polka dotted outfits on display, the convenient collection of electronic products and imported Chinese goods were the common sight and people rushed to get the best deal out of it. Some people were obsessed with bargaining. Bargaining is a talent that came in handy for this group of girls from Imphal and their Burmese friend helped them to get the best price on ponchos, hats, scarves, shoes and bags. Most of the items chosen by them were fashionable and functional. They pointed me out that all the items they bought were of acceptable quality and in trendy designs. The novelty factor was there as people picked up something fresh and unique in plenty.
Shoppers braved the sweltering heat by sipping cold drinks from the vendor next to them. As for me, I was not eyeing on silly designer prices. I knew a lot of items purchased from Namphalong have not lasted as the quality is disappointingly poor. A shop that sells stationeries housed items that can be taken home as a souvenir and something you can give as a gift. Exploring the unfamiliar and the unexpected have thrilled the visitors and they cannot get enough of Namphalong. There is something about this place to suit most budgets. It’s no wonder most people we meet have Namphalong in their wish list and this is the place where the people shop till they drop.
5-Aug-2013 / 01:20 AM / Maisnam Chanu Liklainu /
* Thiyam Bharat Singh