<div dir="ltr"><h1 class="">Myanmar's Tamils seek to protect their identity</h1>
<span class="">
<span class="">By Swaminathan Natarajan</span>
<span class="">BBC Tamil, Myanmar</span>
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<img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71831000/jpg/_71831713_tamil_3.jpg" alt="Students in a Tamil class room " height="288" width="512">
<span style="width:512px">Motivating young Tamil students to attend classes in Myanmar is a formidable challenge</span>
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<p class="" id="story_continues_1">People
of Indian origin make up of roughly 2% of Myanmar's 55-million
population, but the experiences of Tamil people - who comprise the
largest group - have veered from one extreme to the other in the past
200 years. </p>
<p>After independence in 1948, the introduction of land reforms,
the imposition of the Burmese language and the decision to give
preferential treatment to the majority Burmese community pushed Tamils
down in the social hierarchy.</p>
<p>They are now trying to revive their language and culture by opening new schools. </p>
<p>Tamils from south India began migrating to Myanmar - also now known as Burma - during the early 19th Century. </p>
<span class="">Political upheavals</span>
<p>But unlike indentured labourers who went from India to
counties such as Sri Lanka and South Africa , Tamils in Burma were not
taken on by the colonial administration.</p>
<p>Instead they worked as agricultural labourers for members of the traditional merchant caste known as Nagarathars.</p>
<div class="">
<a class="" href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-25438275#story_continues_2">Continue reading the main story</a> <h2 class="">“<span>Start Quote</span></h2>
<img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71832000/jpg/_71832411_tamil_4.jpg" alt="Sumathi" height="81" width="144">
<blockquote><p class="">Even my Tamil friends prefer to speak in Burmese. I can understand a bit of Tamil but can't speak it”</p></blockquote>
<span class="">Sumathi</span>
<span class="">Fifth generation Tamil in Myanmar</span>
</div> <p id="story_continues_2">"We have a temple which was
built in 1836. Some say the first Tamil settlers arrived in 1824," says
Dhanapal, a trader living in the port city of Mawlamyine.</p>
<p>At the turn of the 20th Century, Tamils established themselves in agriculture and trade in what was then Burma. </p>
<p>But their fortunes took a huge downturn during the World War Two and subsequent political upheavals. </p>
<p>After the Japanese invasion of Burma, many thousands of
Tamils who worked in urban areas for the British colonial administration
returned to India. </p>
<p>Once independence was secured, the Burmese government
introduced land reforms and took over vast tracts of irrigated land and
businesses as part of a nationalisation drive.</p>
<span class="">'Permanent damage'</span>
<p>The imposition of the Burmese language as the medium of
instruction - combined with the forced closure of Tamil schools in the
1960s - triggered another wave of reverse migration.</p>
<div class="">
<img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71832000/jpg/_71832406_tamil_2.jpg" alt="A statue of Buddha in a Hindu temple in Rangoon" height="288" width="512">
<span style="width:512px">There is a visible bond between Buddhism and Hinduism in many Hindu temples</span>
</div>
<p>But many Tamils have deep roots in the country. They kept a low
profile and slowly improved their fortunes by mending their
relationship with the majority community and staying away from politics.</p>
<p>Septuagenarian Nainar Mohamed says that the closing down of
Tamil schools by the government some 50 years ago caused permanent
damage.</p>
<p>"While travelling in a train I saw a group of girls clothed in traditional saris," he said.</p>
<p>"They had long hair and wore flowers. But when I tried to
speak to them in Tamil, they were not able to understand a word. Large
numbers of Tamils here cannot read, write or even speak Tamil." </p>
<p>Sumathi, 20, is a fifth generation Tamil. She lives in an area inhabited by many Tamil families in Mawlamyine. </p>
<p>She likes to wear traditional Burmese dresses and applies thangka - a yellowish paste - on her cheeks.</p>
<p>"I work in a local shop. I speak in Burmese at my home. Even
my Tamil friends prefer to speak in Burmese. I can understand a bit of
Tamil but can't speak it," she says in broken Tamil. She has no
intention to attend Tamil classes.</p>
<p>In her neighbourhood - which outwardly has symbols of Tamil culture - there are many others who struggle to speak the language. </p>
<div class="">
<img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71831000/jpg/_71831715_tamil_5.jpg" alt="Tamil students in Burma" height="288" width="512">
<span style="width:512px">Many younger Tamils do not speak the language and adopt Burmese customs</span>
</div>
<p>The younger generation of Tamils eats Burmese food, speaks the
Burmese language in their homes and in many cases prefers to wear
traditional Burmese costumes. </p>
<p>Unlike the previous generation they have very little
emotional connection with the land of their ancestors. This trend is
giving way to fears of total assimilation. </p>
<p>"Our boys and girls don't know Tamil or Sanskrit. They don't
know the history and cultural traditions of our community. Some have
even embraced other religions," says Devaraj, a trustee of a Rangoon
temple.</p>
<p>To arrest this trend he has started organising religion
classes for Hindu children. Barring a small number of Muslims and
Christians, Burmese Tamils are predominantly Hindu. </p>
<p>There is a visible bond between Hinduism and Buddhism. There
are more than 1,000 Hindu temples in present-day Myanmar. In some of
the more famous temples ethnic Burmese visitors outnumber Tamils.</p>
<p>All Hindu temples have a statue or image of Buddha. Even
though some Hindu traditions accept Buddha as a reincarnation of Lord
Vishnu, not many temples in India have Buddha statues. </p>
<p>Members of the Burmese Tamil community say that this mutual
understanding means that they have largely escaped religious violence
which sometimes has plagued Burma.</p>
<p>But while Myanmar's military rulers did not interfere with
temple administrations, the closure of Tamil schools meant that the
Tamil language was only taught in temples - and then only for the
purposes of fostering religious education and music and dance.</p>
<p>The restrictions meant that Burma's Tamil population has remained isolated for many years.</p>
<div class="">
<img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71832000/jpg/_71832409_tamil_1.jpg" alt="Statue of Thiruvalluvar" height="549" width="549">
<span style="width:549px">Evidence of Tamil culture is not hard to find - such as this statue of renowned poet Thiruvalluvar</span>
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<p>It maintained very little contact with Tamil Nadu or with other
well-established Tamil communities living in Singapore and Malaysia.
Many Tamil teenagers - and their parents - have not even seen India.</p>
<p>But with change sweeping Myanmar, many new schools - which are keen to go beyond religious education only - have emerged. </p>
<p>"We have prepared a syllabus and brought out books which are
given free. We train the teachers and are doing everything to motivate
the students," says P Shanmuganathan, a teacher overseeing dozens of
Tamil schools in Burma.</p>
<p>Tamils in Burma are thinly spread, except in a few villages.
In many places it is difficult to muster enough students to justify the
salaries of teachers - usually paid by the voluntary contributions from
Tamil businessmen.</p>
<p>Motivating young students to attend classes is a formidable challenge.</p>
<p>"Some ask me why we should learn the language which is not
going to provide job opportunities and has no practical utility. I tell
them this is about our own history and identity. We will not be able to
call ourselves Tamil if we lose our language," Mr Shanmuganathan says.</p>
<p>Tamil teachers say that if present efforts are sustained, the
community will be able to keep the Tamil culture and language alive for
years to come.</p><p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-25438275">http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-25438275</a><br></p><p><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br>
<br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br>
<br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------
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