MYANMAR, November 13, 2014 (Indian Express): In between Myanmar’s two erstwhile capitals Yangon and Mandalay lies Zayawaddy Grant, a cluster of villages and a small township. At first glance it is no different from any other small town in this country, that not too long ago was closed to the rest of the world. Look closer and the difference is apparent. Tucked between traditional wooden Burmese huts raised on stilts are two-story concrete homes that could belong to any Indian small town. Wearing traditional Burmese shirts tucked into lungis and savoring samosas and jalebis at tea stalls are many Indian faces.
Numbering over 70,000 in Zayawaddy town and surrounding villages, they are the descendants of farmers brought by the British from India — mostly from Bihar, but also Uttar Pradesh — to cultivate land in these parts. In the years that the military junta ruled Myanmar with an iron thumb, they largely escaped the authorities’ attention and have now become Myanmarese citizens.
The Little India has a Hindu Kalyan Sahyog Samiti to take care of religious affairs, Hindi is taught to children at a sprawling Gandhi Hall and in nearly a hundred schools, a temple with statues of Shiva, Lakshmi and Radha-Krishna draws many faithful, and there is an RSS branch to “liaise” with the authorities.
More of this interesting history at ‘source’.