The Indian Diaspora is spread over 110 countries. It was said that the sun never sets in the British Empire. It is also the case with Indian Diaspora. The sun never sets in the world of Indian Diaspora.
The Indian Diasporic community is active in all walks of life. They are doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, innovators, lawyers, managers, researchers, scientists, teachers, workers, and in some cases also politicians. They are an asset to their host countries as they contribute towards the development of the country in which they live. Every person in his own way is an achiever. There are some twenty five million of them living outside India.
What is Indian Diaspora and when did it start? Indian Diaspora is not new. It started long time ago. It goes back to the time when during the period of Emperor Ashoka Buddhist preachers went to the spread Buddhism in the South Asian countries.
In the 19th century, under the British rule the so called indenture labourers who left India to seek their livelihood in a foreign country were the first batch that started the Indian Diaspora. Some of them did not come back and settled in the country where they were working.
The second group of Indian Diaspora went to the Asian and African countries as skilled and semi-skilled workers artisans, traders, factory workers, engineers etc. The Petro-dollars attracted them to Middle- East. A few jumped the ocean and arrived in the African countries.
The third group is of recent origin. They are the professionals and the educated and privileged young Indians who went abroad in search of a better life. They went abroad mainly to the countries like USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Australia etc. They are the highly qualified professionals or entrepreneurs.
Previously NRI (Non-Resident Indian) equated to Never Returning Indians or Not Required Indians. Now all of a sudden India has discovered the potential of their sons and daughters living abroad and the economic reservoir of this group living in all the nooks and corners of this world. NRI now means Now Required Indians.
It was the late Nani Palkhiwala who first drew attention to the opportunities and potential for India opened up by the economic successes of Indians abroad. All of a sudden the Indian Diaspora was discovered. India recognised the contribution made by the Diasporic Indians towards improving India’s image and relationship with the host countries. India discovered the economic potential of this group.
The NRI’s of today is a strong force. In the USA they are referred as the ‘model minority’. In Europe the main base of the Diasporic Indian is the UK followed by the Netherlands. Two third of the Indians living in the European Union live in the UK. The NRIs who have chosen a foreign country as their “home” are professionally trained and wellsettled and have not only retained Indian identity but have also shown interest in the advancement of their kin back home in India. Many of them have retained Indian citizenship. They have gained considerable expertise in important spheres of economic and professional life. Diasporic peoples often experience the need to maintain their cultural and national identity through contact with family and friends and through consuming mass media products from their home countries and communities of origin.
If one speaks of an Indian Diaspora, it is because other forces have emerged to cement the widely different elements from India into an “Indian community”. This is a combination of “nationalism” which can be translated as patriotism combined with love for the country, its heritage and its culture. They are proud to be Indian. For them ‘Sare Jahhan Se Accha Hindustan hamara’ - My India is better then the rest of the world. They may be the holders of Dutch, English or American passports, be first, second or third generation, but during the flag hoisting ceremony at the Indian Embassies and consulates all over the world they all very proudly sing the India’s national anthem.
One speaks Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, or any of the Indian languages or one follows one’s own faith, but still they preserve their “Indianness” – their “Diasporic Identity”. In their heart they are still Indian. They are the Indians in the Diaspora. They have moved from their Janmabhumi to their present Karmabhumi .To quote Mr Vayalar Ravi, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs – For an Indian in Diaspora it is not only “Dil hai Hindustani” but “demaag vee Hindustani”.
The Assamese Diaspora: Compared to other communities from India, very few Assamese move abroad. In the USA most of the Assamese are scattered over different parts of the country. The number may not be big, but there is global presence of Assamese Diaspora and most of them are doing well. The spread and presence of the Assamese Diaspora all over the globe, however small the numbers might be, is a matter of great pride for Assam.
The overseas contribution from the Indians from Kerela, Punjab, and Gujarat to name a few states has changed the economic contour of these states. India gets substantial foreign exchange deposits under various categories from the NRIs.
Bihar, Orissa, MP, Rajahstan and others are waking up to welcome the lost souls of the soil who are working and living in a far off land. A few of the Indian states are all organising a Pravashi Divas to show them the potentials in their own states. During the last Pravashi Bharatiya Divas Chief Ministers of 10 states were present to interact with the NRI’s.
During the Pravashi Bharatiya Divas, out of curiosity I attended the presentation of Bihar. I was amazed at the quality of the presentation and the effort they are taking to give a new face to Bihar and attract new ventures to Bihar. The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh informed that he keeps every Monday 17:00 to 18:00 hrs free to interact with the public. Anybody can approach him without an appointment. And what is Assam doing? May be this seminar is a first step in that direction.
Assam has an “Image” problem. Within India the image of Assam most of the time is insurgent ridden, economically backward state, with poor infrastructure. On top of that the work force has an easy going work ethos. The negative stereotype of Assamese society or its work-ethic (something no one has yet defined as to what it might consist of) has been a product of ill-informed Indian media or perpetuated by self-loathing and insecure Assamese themselves. At the root of the low-expectations that has created the lax and lackadaisical work environment in public institutions is a governmental system that is unable to enforce any rule or standard of performance.
India is a country of young people, with 54 percent of its population under the age group of 25 years. What is Assam doing to absorb the potential of this young work force? There should be vision, there should be a plan to utilise this work force.
Time has come to take a different look at the attitude towards Assamese entrepreneurship and towards honest hard work. Entrepreneurship is more than being a PWD contractor employing a workforce consisting of workers from outside Assam and sometimes outside India. The Assam Tribune of 16th January 2007 carried an article about entrepreneurship and the course offered by the Assam Institute of Entrepreneurship, Guwahati. In the first batch of 16 students there are also students from Orissa and Tamilnadu. Is Assam not in a position to deliver even 16 local candidates for this course? Among the Assamese there is a general reluctance for hard work. Moreover the youth has to work in en environment with several impediments. But the same people when they go abroad they do well. The significant reasons why they excel once they leave India are (in random order):
1. Discipline
2.Motivation
3. Dignity of labour
4. Reasonable tax structure
5. Freedom from extortion from illegal tax collection agencies (Goonda tax).
6. Defendable property rights.
7. Reliable and timely conflict resolution processes.
8. Freedom from onerous governmental restrictions, meddling and corruption.
‘democratically elected’ government’s unresponsiveness to glaring problems? And what has changed in the last two decades since ULFA’s emergence? What have Indian government done? What have Assam government done to neutralize or even merely attempt to address the causes that gave rise to ULFA? Since then it is not only the ULFA but over thirty more insurgencies that arose throughout the Seven Sisters.
After the cowardly killing of the innocent Bihari workers by ULFA there is a flurry of high level visitors from Assam. But when the same ULFA killed the innocent Assamese in Dhemaji the so called leaders were no where to be seen. The government has beefed up the security and sent 3.000 more troops. It is not only the troops which are required but the government should also beef up the intelligence. It seems the intelligence gathering is in very poor shape. If intelligence would have been good many of the killings would not have taken place. The government should introduce a system of paying money for usable information. This might lead to neutralising some of threats by the underground organisations.
The government should walk the extra mile and join hands with the opposition to solve this problem. And the opposition, instead of protesting against the government should support the government and together with the people try to solve this social menace which is one of the main reasons for unwillingness of investors to participate in local projects. The result of a recent poll showed that 95% of the people are against the demands of ULFA.
They are all critical issues and should be recognised and dealt properly. Outside India, India has also the same problem. But India is fighting back with different campaigns. The same applies to Assam. For the tourist we should make Assam ‘Incredible Assam’ but for the investors for the business community it should be ‘credible Assam’.
by Wahid Saleh, The Netherlands
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