Border trade at Moreh: Looking back

Prof E Bijoykumar Singh *

Indo-Myanmar Friendship Gate at Moreh, a border town between India and Myanmar in Aug 2012 :: Pix - CK Sharma

A vibrant Moreh is like another lifeline for us- a region struggling to find a place in the sun. Border trade agreement became operational in 1995. Today, after two decades, one cannot wish away the feeling of not having done enough, a feeling of having failed.

What are the factors dictating the unfolding of events at Moreh? When we start talking about the factors, the history of Moreh also becomes important because the roots of present and future lie in the past.

Looking back at Moreh was a theme in the recently held national seminar "Border Trade at Moreh: Past, Present and Future" organised by Economics department, Manipur University under UGC-Special Assistance programme. It was the fourth national seminar organised by the department on Indo Myanmar Border Trade at Moreh. What emerged in the seminar was that – the potential of Moreh was never fully realised.

We are yet to get over the habit of illicit trade at Moreh. The biggest threat to formal trade at the border comes from informal trade. Informal trade has grown by leaps and bounds while formal trade has remained a dwarf. The estimates of trade volume are at best simple guesswork.

It is extremely challenging to collect reliable information on illegal activities, particularly when every player is highly compensated. Though it is claimed that the word 'Moreh' is derived from Mu-wao, a term whose origin has been traced to Poireitonand there was an official 'Awa Purel' to look after the Burmese affairs , we started from scratch at Moreh.

Moreh had to be rediscovered after World War II when the search of war scraps brought many persons from Kakching and neighbouring areas. Some enterprising people also took up smuggling with the search for war scraps. In independent India that gradually degenerated into illegal activities.

People failed to realize the significance of international boundaries . They continued with what they have been doing since time immemorial. Independence transformed the small traders into smugglers overnight. It was not that we had any inherent preference for illegal trade, what we have been doing have been rendered illegal. We prefer doing what we have been doing. The web of rules & regulation for foreign trade proved too complex for us and we turned towards the apparently simpler option of illegal trade.

We simply were not aware of the possibilities of foreign trade. The character of Moreh was undergoing some radical changes with the advent of Indians from Myanmar. They brought capital and experience to engage in trade, largely illegal . This was the option in the absence of formal border trade which was to come in 1995 only.

During the 70s and 80s sandalwood smuggled from Myanmar masqueraded as products of Agarmahals in Manipur. Mahaldars had the license to trade in agar. Some of the traders who made it big in this deceptive business got the word 'agar' prefixed to their names. That was the time of Five Star , a syndicate powerful enough to even topple a government.

The educated people preferred illegal trade because of its relative simplicity and had come to believe that the associated inconveniences were integral part of foreign trade. Lack of awareness of the benefits and possibilities of normal trade and emergence of vested interest gradually pushed us towards illegal trade. We did not realise that we end up paying more than what we would have paid, had we pursued normal trade. Some people tried to challenge the system by going for international trade with proper documentations.

Oja Sh. Rajmani Sharma of Singjamei, 'James Bond' to his admiring students, was one such person. He took time off from his duties at Ramlal Paul High schoolto test the water. His grandfather never returned from a trip to Myanmar and his family members were dead against his frequent visits to Moreh. He managed to get a permission to collect WWII scrap in the area and managed to take truckloads of scrap to Gauhati.

He rose to become a mahaldar of sandalwood by outbidding the Five star syndicate. He tried to explore the limits of the system through legal channels. However Sandalwood has become a protected plant and it became illegal to do business in sandalwood. Though I was meeting him after 47 years, he graciously accepted our request for being the resource person in the seminar and provided hitherto unknown narrative of trade at pre 1995 Moreh . That was a time when we needed bravery more than finance.

That attitude largely explains the growth of informal trade at Moreh and inconveniences on the way. Everyone believes that smuggling and informal trade are integral part of Moreh trade. Law enforcing agencies and civil society organisations consider the numerous check gates as their right and also necessary to collect their share. Their words are law in these numerous checkposts along the 100 km long road to Moreh.

A classic joke goes like this: when told that the transporter had already paid at an earlier checkpost , the officer insisted on another payment as his was a mobile checkpost. In one of my numerous trips from Moreh, a tax collector simply jumped on the roof of the vehicle and jumped off only after collectinghighly arbitrary 'forest tax' on some wooden chairs we were taking.

Normal trade would mean that we pay the duties at Moreh and our goods would be taken to the destination without any further check and hassles on the way. Bulk buyers would transport their goods in inland containers sealed at Moreh and to be opened at the destination which could be any part of India. When we visited Petrapole , an integrated checkpost along Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal we didn't find any shop displaying foreign goods. There were travel agents, hotels and foreign exchange brokers. The consignments will be insured.

We need no longer be scared of our goods being damaged on the way. We don't even have to go to Moreh – the transaction can be completed through internet and letter of credit of banks. The current system has made bulk transportation almost impossible, one of the factors behind border trade remaining a dwarf. In place of a known and certain duty & insurance premium at the border we are always risking a higher payment at various checkposts.

Ignorance is the only reason for taking such an uninsurable risk. Thus inclusive changes at Moreh can be brought only after the anti-inclusive interest is taken care of. Until that happens trade at Moreh will continue to remain as hush-hush as before. Society will keep on questioning the value system of the traders. Until that happens full potential of Moreh will not be realised.