6 Issue of Integration with Hostlands: South Asia

1.INTRODUCTION

 

This unit deals with the issues of integration faced by the Indian diaspora in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Maldives. Basically, the intention is to focus on their ability to integrate and their concrete efforts to do so and the subsequent reactions of the host society.

 

Although they play different roles in the economy and polity of each country, the Indian diasporic communities in these South Asian countries still exhibit some common characteristics that make them different from rest of the Indian diaspora spread across the globe. One of the important unique characteristics of these diasporas (excluding the case of those in Pakistan) is their back and forth movement between the Indian border and their host country, which makes it difficult for them to settle and integrate in the host society and to be accepted by them. The issues of integration of the Indian diaspora in these South Asian countries are dealt with separately, country by country in the upcoming sections.

 

2.LEARNING OUTCOMES

 

After reading the module, the reader will get to know and understand the complexities of integration of the Indian diaspora in South Asian countries. The social, political and economic issues involved therewith and its back and forth mobility makes it different from classical diasporas and throws up the specificities of the ‘borderland’ concept.

 

3. ISSUES OF INTEGRATION

 

Diasporas are increasingly being highlighted as important transnational actors in international politics, who not only influence their homeland issues, but also have an impact on the hostland’s polity, society and economy. Attaining the status of critical transnational actors is a challenging task involving many issues, of which the issue of integration in hostlands rates utmost importance.

 

Integration is a multidimensional process encompassing the entire gamut of social, cultural, political and economic concerns. These issues can broadly be divided in two categories: those that pertain to the activities of the diaspora itself and those that pertain to the reactions and actions of the host countries.

The first sets of issues revolve around diasporas and their survival and identity. Issues of survival incorporate accommodation and adjustment concerns in the host society. As far as the question of identity is concerned, it depends on diasporas and to what extent are they willing to integrate themselves. Some diasporas completely assimilate themselves and merge their identity with the host society, whereas others adopt some aspects of the host’s culture and society while retaining their basic homeland cultural underpinnings.

 

Different diaspora groups are identified by different characteristics. Although not homogenous, they do exhibit certain qualities that exemplify their group’s identity as a distinctive ethnic diasporic group. This identity is generally based on a collective imagination of historical, political and spatial context. Therefore, these factors play a significant role in the construction of the identity of diaspora groups. Apart from this, other factors like level of education, status in terms of their numerical proportion in the population of the host country etc also play an important role while integrating with the host society.

 

The second sets of issues revolve around host society’s reactions and tolerance for the diasporas. There could be two possible processes that result from the host society’s reactions. On the one hand, processes like alienation and marginalisation of and discrimination towards diasporas owing to employment concerns, threat of cultural assault etc could prevail. On the other hand, acceptance and recognition of diasporas as having potentialities of making social change credited to globalisation and liberalisation could be the dominant sentiment. Nature of political set up of host society also determines the level of integration. For instance, if a country follows a democratic political set up, it is more likely to give space and freedom to its immigrants. Whereas, the chances to let diasporas flourish are much less in an undemocratic set up, especially an authoritarian one. Socio- economic factors, like civil and political rights given to diaspora, freedom to mobilize on important issues etc also influence the degree of integration.

 

4. INDIAN DIASPORA IN SOUTH ASIA

 

By conventional definition, South Asia consists of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives. However, some of the contemporary definitions add Afghanistan and Myanmar also. But, Afghanistan and Myanmar will not be discussed here. The reason is that the selected six countries share borders with India and are together known as the Indian subcontinent. This geographical contiguity enables migrants move back and forth, which makes Indian diaspora in these countries a unique case. Since borders are shared, the term ‘borderlands’ as coined by Roger Rouse (1991) could be used for these countries.

 

Rouse uses this term for Mexican migrants from Aguililla, who live in Redwood City, California, but continuously shuttle across the border, which is imagined as a transnational space, where two distinct cultures encounter each other, thus forming a ‘borderland’. While residing in Redwood City, they formed such deep connections with Aguilila that the two cities are no longer thought of as distinct spaces. However, they have not assimilated completely in the culture of USA, in fact they have learned to work in a dichotomised setting by maintaining a ‘cultural bifocality’. Therefore, they do not have features of classic diasporas (Rouse, 1991).

 

Similarly, the concept of ‘borderlands’ could be used for countries in the Indian subcontinent. Since borders are shared, and except in the case of Pakistan, there is much to and fro movement, these borderland communities do not have the features of classical diasporas. In fact there is a contestation, whether Indian origin population in these countries can at all be called diasporas or not. However, this overseas population is stilladdressed as ‘diaspora’ for the reasons that (a) these people have left their home country and are residing in a foreign land and (b) these people consider themselves to be an ethnic group, who have a sense of belongingness as they share common history, culture and identity. These two are important factors, according to Robin Cohen (2008), that define diasporas.

 

Indians in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Nepal, and social problems faced by them in integration are discussed. Bhutan has not been discussed because of scarcity of literature.

 

Given below is a table of Indian diaspora in the selected countries.

 

 

4.1. PAKISTAN

 

Partition of the Indian subcontinent led to massive migrations. Millions of people were exchanged on both the sides of the border. In the case of Pakistan, there is no question of People of Indian Origin (PIOs), as all were Indians before 1947. Hence, the section deals with the issues of integration of:

 

·      Non Muslim minority population in Pakistan

·      Muslim population, who migrated from India to Pakistan, but are still considered to be aliens.

 

NON-MUSLIM MINORITY POPULATION

 

Religious minorities in Pakistan account for approximately 4-5% percent of the total population, including Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Ahmadiya, Bahai, Buddhists, Jains and Zoroastrians (Gregory and Valentine 2009 : ii). At the time of Partition, these communities did not migrate to India and chose to stay back. They were given official assurance of security, protection and an egalitarian society, which did not last for long. Grave human rights abuses and violations, exploitations, discrimination by the government as well as by the majority population are some of the serious concerns.

 

In 1947, Jinnah had declared Pakistan a democratic and a secular state. But, in 1970’s, with the military coup of General Zia ul Haq, nature of Pakistani state changed from secular to Islamic. With the addition of Shariat (Islamic law) in constitution, enactment of various bills and ordinances like “hudood ordinance 1979 (penalties for offences against the boundaries set in the Qu’ran related to areas such as drinking alcohol, taking drugs, theft, and sexual crimes such as adultery and fornication), Qanoon e Shahadat or Law of Evidence (introduced in 1984,whereby the importance of court testimony of a non-Muslim male citizen is reduced to that of half a Muslim and that of a non-Muslim woman to one quarter of a Muslim man or may rule non-Muslim witnesses as unacceptablecompletely) and various other laws and amendments in the constitution made religious minorities feel further discriminated and unequal in the eyes of law”(Gregory & Valentine 2009:7).

 

Apart from official laws enacted by state government, religious minorities are said to have been exploited and discriminated at the hands of majority population as well (Indian express, 31-07-12). Abduction for money, rape, destruction of temples and churches top the list. Government is ineffective in giving them protection,

 

Despite the fact that they are living in their forefathers’ land, religious minorities are considered inferior and second class citizens. There have been many peaceful and silent protests and campaigns against the exploitation. For instance, in 2011, Hindus and Christians organised a hunger strike after the murder of four Hindu doctors in Hyderabad(News.VA, 2011).

 

Despite many protests and campaigns, it seems that the government has not taken any substantial steps to provide protection to minority groups. The minority groups have formed many non government organisations, but are not active in politics and bureaucracy.

 

MUSLIM MIGRANTS FROM INDIA: MOHAJIRS

 

According to Richards(1993) Mohajirs are defined by the census of Pakistan, 1951 as persons who have moved into Pakistan as a result of Partition or for fear of disturbances connected therewith (as cited in Bose 2004 :143). In practice, Mohajirs refer to only those Muslims who are Urdu-speaking and who migrated to Sindh from various provinces in India.

 

Muslim migrants settled across the country. There were three groups of Muslims who migrated to Pakistan. Firstly, there were Punjabis, who settled in West Punjab. Secondly, there were Pathans, most of whom were settled in North West Frontier Province. Thirdly, there were Urdu speaking Muslims who came from Gujarat, Bombay, Hyderabad and many other places and settled down in Sindh especially in Karachi. The first two groups got well settled and integrated in the society. But, it is the third group who have tried but haven’t succeeded in integrating in the host society and are referred to as Mohajirs (Sayeed, 2008). This section deals with the issues of integration of this group.

 

At the time of partition, Mohajirs dominated Pakistan economically, politically and culturally. Along with their higher education and industrial background, their domination in government significantly helped the whole community. Politically, Pakistan was dominated by Mohajirs, who remained in power till 1958. Urdu became the official language which further gave them the upper hand over others. They were immediately accepted perhaps because of shared culture, traditions, history, common language i.e. Urdu, food etc. Two changes in the form of death of Jinnah and Liaquat Ali khan and the military coup of Ayub Khan faded this dominance(Bose, 2004). The political system soon became chaotic and unmanageable.

 

The reign of Ayub Khan brought hardships for Mohajirs. Pathan Punjabis were made to resettle in Karachi. This affected the Mohajirs’ employment opportunities. Shifting of the capital from Karachi to Islamabad also affected the Mohajirs’ economic and social status. According to Bose (2004) “with the coming to power of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was a Sindhi, the condition of Mohajirs deteriorated further. In the 1970’s, a language bill was introduced, which made Sindhi as important as Urdu, which impacted Urdu speaking Mohajirs and further aggravated their marginalisation”.

 

Over a period of 15 years, Mohajirs lost control of important spheres (bureaucratic, political and economic) they once had strong hold of. Gradually, distinct Mohajir groups evolved into a united single ethnic group owing to shared experiences of discrimination and oppression by the state. With realisation of a single ethnic identity, many Mohajir movements cropped up. As a result, Mohajir Qaumi movement (MQM) was formed in 1984 to get back the original economic, bureaucratic and political status.

 

Predominantly formed to address issues of Mohajirs, MQM also started dealing with women’s issues. In 1997, Mohajir Qaumi Movement changed its name to Muttahida Qaumi movement.

Although they had a big hand in the development of the idea of a separate state of Pakistan, Mohajirs haven’t been able to integrate in the society and are still considered to be a distinct and foreign group. Toiling hard to come to forefront in political and economic spheres to regain original status, only time will tell whether they are able to attain this position or not.

 

 

4.2. BANGLADESH

 

Again the case of Bangladesh is the same as Pakistan, where all are people of Indian origin. So, the issues of amalgamation of minority population in Bangladeshi society will be discussed.

 

Bangladesh is predominantly a Muslim majority country with Hindus, Christians and Budhists (tribals) as minorities. Since 1947, people are moving across what is now Indo-Bangla border. In 1950, bulk of population migrated to India because zamindari system was abolished, which by and large affected Hindus as they were zamindars and their properties were lost (Barman, 2004). Since then a wave of emigrations of minorities started. Other reasons for emigrations could be violence and discrimination at the hands of the majority population. But, this section does not discuss the issues of integration of all the religious minorities, instead it deals with the plight and struggle of the indigenous people only (mainly Chakma tribe) living in the Chittagong hill tracts (CHT). The reason is that this group is most affected by the atrocities and exploitation as govt. snatched its lands and resources.

 

In CHT, 13 tribes reside, but Chakma is the largest. They are predominantly Buddhists, having neither linguistic nor cultural affinity with Bengalis. Being a distinct and secluded group, they were given a special status by British rulers, which limited movement of outsiders to this tract. This maintained their socio-cultural integrity. But, the government of Pakistan withdrew this special status and started economic development of the area in the form of hydro electric projects.

 

The genesis of the conflict is the construction of a Dam at Kaptai in 1963, which along with destroying the economies of indigenous tribes, submerged significant cultural sites, thereby changing the demography of the whole region (Singh, 2003).

 

Simultaneously, the ‘special status’ of CHT was disbanded and poor Bengali families were made to resettle in that region. Even after liberation war of 1971, the Bangladeshi government pursued similar strategies of rehabilitating the Bengali population to these areas. Tribal people not only lost their possessions but their very survival was threatened. Consequently, thousands of people were displaced; most of them took refuge in India owing to security and economic concerns.

 

Those who stayed in Bangladesh formed a self-defense organization: Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS or Chittagong Hill Tribal People’s Coordination Association) in 1972. Few years later, the PCJSS’ military arm, the Shanti Bahini, initiated a violent campaign to attain independence.

 

After many years of struggles and negotiations, peace finally came in the year 1997 with the Chittagong Hill tracts peace accord. The accord promised to restore a number of reforms relating to upliftment of tribal people. According to a report in Refworld (UNHCR, 2003), on the Minority at risk project, this region, as per the accord, was administered by a local council, the majority of whose members were tribals. The council’s responsibilities include maintaining public administration, law and order and promoting development. After the peace accord PCJSS disbanded the Shanti Bahini in 1998 and became a political party.

 

The report also emphasized that although Shanti Bahini has been disbanded, there are still some of the group members who are yearning for a greater control over their affairs, which often lead to violent clashes between the moderates and the radicals. These tribals also want a ban on in-migrations of Bengali families, return of tribal lands that were confiscated and cessation of hostilities against them. These people also long for development, which is critical for their future. Another important demand is the removal of Bangladeshi troops from the area. Some of the demands have been fulfilled whereas many others have been overlooked by the government, for instance, in 2001, the head of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council asserted that the government has not removed troops from the region which could lead to a new wave of violence.

 

Another report, by Amnesty International (2013), stresses upon the fact that it has been more than 15 years to the peace accord but troops are still present in the area and have not been withdrawn, which is still the cause of persistent violence in the region. Therefore, there is a need to implement clauses of the accord that have not yet been implemented

 

Even after so many years of negotiations, the problem has not been solved. The problem has now become two fold, with the conflict between tribals and the government as well as the intra-group conflict. Given the situation, the region continues to be vulnerable.

 

To know more about Chakma tribes and their history of migrations watch this video available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu8Q1qIgCv0

 

4.3. SRI LANKA

 

Srilanka has a large population of Tamils who have lived in the northern districts for many centuries. They claim to have lived in the island even before the Sinhalas emigrated from India. These are known as the Lankan Tamils. What are known as ‘Indian Tamils’ migrated to Sri Lanka in the 19th century mainly as indentured labour who worked in tea plantations, construction of infrastructure like roadways and rails, expansion of Colombo harbour etc. They were settled in the estates of the hilly-regions of central Sri Lanka.

 

Conditions started worsening in 1948, when Ceylon citizenship bill was enacted. According to this bill, those inhabitants who do not have Ceylonese citizenship would not be able to stay in Sri Lanka anymore. This act affected socio-economic life of Indian Tamils and several of them decided to move back to India. According to Brij Lal et al (2007: 147) “by the year 1950, around 34,000 India Tamils had returned from Sri Lanka. A few years later (in 1953), this number increased and Jawaharlal Lal Nehru allowed 3, 00,000 people to return to India, while 4, 50,000 were considered for Sri Lankan citizenship”.

 

While most of the Indian Tamils were given Sri Lankan citizenship, there were many others who were left unhappy and were yearning for it. Indian Tamils had very low income and suffered from poor working conditions. The situation was worse for those who did not have Sri Lankan citizenship. After struggling for many years, in 2003, this group was finally granted Sri Lankan citizenship.

 

According to a report in Refworld (UNHCR, 2003), granting citizenship to Indian Tamils has uplifted their status socially and economically. But, there is a need for a greater representation of the community in politics. The community also identified equal civil rights, better working conditions, increased wages and better educational and occupational opportunities as important indexes of their development. Important concerns also include social and cultural issues especially freedom to practice their religion and protection from violence and attacks on their community.

 

Along with the issues of citizenship, political and economic rights, there was another critical issue which was impacting a smooth integration of Indian Tamils in the Sri Lankan society: the conflict between Lankan Tamils and Sinhalas. In the 1950’s and 60’s, Sinhala became the official language and Buddhism was adopted as the state religion, which had serious implications for all Tamils in Srilanka.

 

These acts served as a precursor to the deadly ethnic conflict as Tamils felt threatened as a culturally distinct group and to safeguard their identity and bread and butter, they retaliated. Many organisations were formed to resist Sinhala oppression. In the 1970s, a militant group called LTTE was formed, who fought against the Sri Lankan government for a separate state of Eelam for Tamils. Suicide bombings, assassination of bureaucrats and attack on civilians were some of the prominent characteristics of this organisation (Chatterjee and Jain 2008:155).

 

Although they did not take part in the conflict, Indian Tamils were always targeted by Sinhala army just because they were Tamils. Their lands and resources were snatched. The coming years witnessed massive exodus of Indian Tamils. This can be attributed to brutal atrocities, grave human right violations, murders etc. conducted by Sinhala military as well as Lankan Tamil militants. Socio-cultural and economic concerns now became meagre and survival of self and family gained utmost importance. As a result, lakhs of Tamils, including Lankan Tamils, fled and took refuge in Tamil Nadu, India. Exodus of Tamil community continued till the defeat of LTTE in 2009.

 

Although with the destruction of LTTE, the ethnic conflict has ended, Indian Tamils are still not at peace. Tamils are still shuttling between India and Sri Lanka and this to and fro movement seems to be unending. Many refugees prefer to return as they consider Sri Lanka to be their homeland, many prefer to stay in India as it is their forefather’s land and they feel safe here, while many others consider both the states to be their home and keep on switching between the two countries for better economic and social conditions.

 

4.4. MALDIVES

 

Immigrations to Maldives started in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Indian diaspora encompasses professionals like teachers, doctors, engineers etc as well as unskilled and semi-skilled labourers. Professionals lead a very comfortable life, but at the other end of the spectrum, there are labourers, who are in miserable conditions.

 

Upper class personnel live with their families and are allowed to visit India as and when they wish. Whereas, working class can visit their country only at the end of their contract and they are also not allowed to bring their families with them. Human rights abuses and ill treatment by employers are the main concerns of labourers. Apart from this, there are strict regulations on immigrations which prevent migrants from settling there permanently (Reeves and Yahya 2007: 155)

 

This substandard condition of labourers has compelled Indian authorities to take some steps to prevent their abuse. Indian High commission safeguarded the rights of Indian workers by redefining the legal and official requirements, such as detailed employments contracts and payment for unfair dismissals.

 

In 2004, Maldives and other Asian countries were badly struck by tsunami. It took away hundreds of lives along with destroying infrastructure, agriculture and economies of these states. Since factories and other infrastructure were damaged, many Indians lost their jobs in Maldives. Most of the Indian workers had left the Island and came back to India. Reconstruction of infrastructure became very problematic for the Maldivian government since most of the labours had returned. Apart from construction, teaching and health sector also came to a halt, where large numbers of Indian expats were employed.

 

Despite labour issues, the cultural bonding is increasing between Indian expats and the natives. In 2011, the Indian Cultural Centre was set up in Male, which further improved Indian diaspora and Maldivians relationship. The objective of establishing this centre was to enhance their relations and increase understanding between the two countries (Face book, 04-03-15).

 

They also celebrate India-Maldives Friendship Festival (INMAFF) annually, which includes a Friendship walk. This year the walk was organised on August 8, 2014. Many Indians as well as Maldivians participated in 2km walk in Male(Face book, 11-03-14). The walk confirmed the enduring friendship between Indians and Maldivians. Furthermore, Maldivians are also fond of Indian movies, music, food and clothing, which enable Indians to thrive in trade.

 

 

 

4.5. NEPAL

 

As far as Nepal is concerned, there is a long history of migrations across the Indo-Nepal border. Like India, Hinduism is predominantly followed in Nepal. Similarly, common language (Hindi and its dialects like Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Maithili etc) and other rituals and traditions are also prevalent.

 

For centuries Indians have been moving to the southernmost region of Nepal called Terai and are called Madhesis or people of plains by the hill people. Madhesis face a number of key issues related to citizenship, language, under representation in politics, economic discrimination etc (International Crisis Group 2007). Although they are of Indian origin, they are not referred toas Indian Diaspora. Those who migrated after 1920 are called Indian diaspora (Reeves2007:152). Migrations to Nepal happened mainly in the 20th century followed by the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the two countries in 1950. This Treaty augmented Indo-Nepal cordial relations and enabled freedom of movement and settlement across the border. Indians and Nepalese moved crossways in search of better employment opportunities.

 

Along with workers from lower classes like carpenters, electricians and barbers, businessmen from higher classes were also migrating for the purpose of trade and setting up industries. As industries were getting placed, labourers were emigrating from India in search of work in those industries and factories. Simultaneously, Nepali working class immigrants came to India searching for employment and are to be found inlarge numbers as watchmen and guards of residential and office buildings and in security agencies.

 

Impact of migrations was soon felt by the Nepalese. Indian diaspora groups were considered to be aliens who were not only exploiting their natural resources, but also creating economic and security troubles. Indian Marwaris have a strong economical hold in Nepal with which Nepalis couldn’t compete. All important businesses were set up by Indians only, which developed an anti-India feeling.

 

As a result, many strict regulations were imposed so as to limit immigrants. According to Reeves (2007: 153) “in 1962, the Panchayat government declared that the applicant should be well versed in Nepali; have an occupation and reside in Nepal for two years. In 1975, the residential requirement was increased to 15 years to limit migrations”.

 

Demands were coming of imposing more strict regulations and checks at the border, which was porous once. Relations between India and Nepal also worsened during these years, but got better with the set up of democratic government, which also re-ushered the wave of new migrations. But, the problem of Indians to integrate in the host society persists as they still dominate the economy of the country which makes natives insecure and hostile.

 

  1. Conclusion

 

The geographical position of the subcontinent is such that each country shares a border with India and they could be addressed as ‘border lands’. As we have seen, Indian diaspora in these countries doesn’t confirm to classical diaspora definition. Primarily because of its back and forth mobility, which makes it a different case altogether. Nevertheless, these people are still called diaspora because they fulfil the basic criteria of being a diaspora group having dispersed from their homeland and sharing a common identity of being Indian.

 

They migrated in different time periods owing to different reasons. Despite sharing similar culture and traditions because of South Asian affinity, Indian diasporas are still foreigners. Dynamics within similar cultures, grave security, environmental and economic implications, and threat of aliens controlling their motherland are what mostly make the basis for conflicts. They face problems in integrating despite having played an important role in economic development of the regions.

 

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