THE SOUTH ASIAN DIASPORA: A POLITICO-ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE

The term diaspora, derived from the Greek composite verb dia- and infinitive speirein, meaning to scatter or to disperse, has constantly been closely associated with the classic Jewish Diaspora in 597 BC when the Jews were forced to leave their homeland and disperse all over the world due to Baylonian, Assyrian, and Roman forces of invasion and colonization (Hooker, 1996) (Gottheil, 2002). In the anthropologic sense, however, the term has been equated with nomadism and migration of human beings from one geographic location to another, phenomena that naturally occurs preceding the formation of distinct cultures, communities, and nations. Beyond being a mere physical movement of peoples (Jayaram, 2004), a diaspora is a transmission of cultural heritage despite living as a minority in an alien land (Rai, 2009). It involves the processes of acculturation, a sharing and exchange of features and characteristics between different cultures to improve and modify some aspects of ones existing culture (ONeil, 2009) while retaining social identity, religious beliefs and practices, family values, food habits, and language (Jayaram, 2004). This act of migrating to a foreign nation and preserving national individuality of ones homeland is what defines a diaspora. These socio-cultural developments in history concerning transmission of cultures between and among nations through diaspora pose politico-economic implications on globalization in the contemporary world. In turn, political and economic situations in history such as colonization and imperialism have shaped and allowed these social and cultural phenomena to occur (Jayaram, 2004). Thus, there is a need to delve deeper into the migrant patterns and populations of individual nations, the best context in which to study is the South Asian Diaspora, a small but widely dispersed diaspora scattered over 100 countries.

The movement of approximately 30 million South Asians, 20 million of which are Indian, outward to foreign lands is a point in history known as the South Asian Diaspora (Rai, 2009). As Jarayam (2004) has stated, the Diaspora goes beyond being a mere physical movement to a cultural movement. In fact, it is a socio-cultural state where people from a certain nation are living outside their country of origin. The South Asian Diaspora then, refers to people from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka the seven nations which make up South Asia who are living elsewhere (Ember, 2005). South Asia, likewise known as the Indian subcontinent, is a large land mass distinct from the rest of the Asian subcontinent. As a result, some historians use the general term Indian Diaspora to mean the diaspora of all South Asians living on the Indian subcontinent, and use the two terms interchangeably (McLeod, 2002). The South Asian Diaspora is described by historians as having two distinct phases: the nineteenth century colonial phase referred to as the old diaspora, and the twentieth century post-independence phase referred to as the new diaspora (Ember, 2005). Slavery, indentured labor, and other traumatic, restricted, and permanent displacements as a result of colonialism make up the old diaspora. The new diaspora, on the other hand, is characterized by greater freedom, high levels of skill on the part of the emigrants to the economic benefit of the host nation, and a flexible, transient exile for the advancement of globalization among nations (Fludernik, 2003) (Rai, 2009). Apparently, this new pattern of South Asian migrations, by the influence of the latest technological trends on systems of communication while retaining its native culture, norms, and values, progressed significantly and took on a more modern, improvised culture better adapted to its foreign environment. However, the new Diaspora owes

its development into the politico-economic agent of globalization that it is today to the stimulus behind the old Diaspora, colonialism. According to Ember (2005), the first large-scale, systematic, and well-documented emigration happened in 1834 when, right after its abolishment of African slavery its British colonies, the British implemented its system of indentured labor on the Indians. Immediately succeeding their emancipation, the former African slaves refused to work in the European sugar plantations, creating an immense shortage of laborers (Lal, 2009). By then, the British had gained control over and colonized a significant portion of India. Through the implementation of this system and with the political and economic power they held along with other European colonizers of that time, the British recruited Indians, mostly Hindus from the northern and eastern states of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar, and Bengal, and the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Indenture contracts generally lasted for a period of 5 years, extendable to 10 years. Emigrants are promised free passage, basic pay, food, accommodation, medical care, return passage, and a rosy life abroad. Upon their recruitment, however, they are faced with the worst, most abominable economic conditions from on board the ship, throughout their stay at the dilapidated and racially torn quarters the Africans had left, and until their poor, penniless return home. Indenture was simply an evolution of recently abolished system of slavery, according to British historian Hugh Tinker (1993). The recruited Indians were shipped off to British, as well as French and Dutch colonies. Other low- and middle-level Indian functionaries and merchants were also trained and recruited by the British to serve the empire abroad. Thus, South Asians were dispersed to Europe and different British, French, and Dutch colonies in various parts of the world like Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Mauritius, South Africa, East Africa, Fiji, Reunion Islands, Suriname, Sri Langka, Malaysia, and Myanmar (Ember, 2005).

South Asian migrations to Africa began more or less in the 1860s, when nearly 700,000 Indians flooded South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania of East Africa, and the island nations of Mauritius and Reunion located southwest of the African continent. The nations of Mauritius and the Reunion Islands are comprised with the largest Indian ethnic populations. About 487,777 Indians came to these countries between 1834 and 1912 via indenture contracts as agricultural workers or small farmers, or voluntarily as traders, merchants, and artisans. Most of these Indians have remained as an ethnic population till present, being flexible with the different religions (Hindu, Muslim, and Christian) and cultures around them and living in harmony with native Africans and other ethnic groups. In South Africa, about 152,184 Indians from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, UP, Bihar, and Bengal were recruited for work by indenture in the sugar and cotton plantations, railways, dockyards, coal mines, municipal service, and domestic sectors between 1860 and 1911. Today, there are almost 1,000,000 Indians in South Africa, 75% of which live in Durban, the third largest city in South Africa. They still retain their Indian heritage, but now consider South Africa their home. Through the indenture system, too, about 30,000 Indians from Punjab were hired for a 3-year contract in the construction of the Mombasa-Kampala railway in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania in East Africa. After their contracts expiration, most returned to India while some 7,000 remained, blending in with Africans and improving their lot. The number grew to 360,000 around 1960, but substantially reduced to 200,000 due to pressure not from the British colonial oppression but from the natives to adopt African citizenship and fully renounce their Asian culture. The strain worsened when an African military dictator came to power in Uganda and in 1972 drove out of the country all people of Asian descent. These Indians were forced to resettle in other countries in Europe, North and Central America, and Asia (Ember, 2005).

Because of the global power the European colonizers held in the nineteenth century, the South Asian Diaspora reached opposite sides of the globe. In the Western Hemisphere in 1838, 416,304 Indians were sent to the British and Dutch colonies of Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname in the West Indies. These Indians remained low-class citizens and were forced to convert to Christianity to rise in the social class ladder, be employed in higher-paying jobs, and alleviate their poor economic conditions. The Indians in Guyana suffered such intense racial discrimination from the local government when African political party, Peoples National Congress (PNC), came into power that around 400,000 of them migrated to Canada and the United States. Indians who have remained in this country continue to face much racial conflict today since the economy continues to be dominated by people of European descent. The same was true for the Indians of Suriname, who when the racial tensions they faced became almost unbearable, nearly half of the Indian population departed for the Netherlands to seek greener pastures. The Indians in Trinidad and Tobago, however, are a different story. Although there continues to be racial discrimination in these island nations, the tide turned in their favor when the first prime minister of Indian origin, Basdeo Pandey of the United National Congress came into power. This is not without mentioning the name V.S. Naipaul earned for the Indians of Trinidad when he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001, and the economic benefits the oil boom of the 1960s brought for them. Very few Indians had reason to leave Trinidad and Tobago. Conversely, in the Eastern Hemisphere, the 61,000 Indians who were deported to Fiji, an island nation in Melanesia in the Pacific, have their own peculiar case of racial prejudice as well. They led pitiable lives under the discriminatory violence, isolation, and exploitation they faced from the native Fijians, whose rights and culture were protected and preserved by the British. Despite being denied their rights and fair opportunities however, the Indians continued to flourish,

dominating agriculture, the Fijian population, and even the government at certain points in history. As soon as a Fijian political party takes over however, the Indians suffer such brutal racist violence that many of them escape to Australia, New Zealand, and other industrialized countries. In fact, they are living in such a hazardous and uncertain country, that even if an Indian-dominated government once again takes over, they will give up the fight for their rights and endeavor to leave Fiji as soon as possible (Ember, 2005). In the twentieth century, South Asians began flooding North America and Europe as a result of colonial oppression, land reorganization, famine, and drought in their home country, as well as discriminatory practices by the natives of some colonies where they have settled. Between 1900 and 1910, about 12,000 Indians coming from Punjab migrated to the Pacific coast of North America, specifically Canada and California. They were mostly uneducated peasants who worked in the mills of British Columbia and Washington State but were forced to leave their first settlement because of violent racial prejudice from the European-blooded natives. In 1908 however, Canada began posing many legal restrictions on Asian immigrants, thus, limiting their number in the country. Punjabis and other South Asian immigrants faced similar impediments in the United States with the passage of several laws. When these immigration laws were liberalized in the 1960s, South Asian immigrations to the United States and Canada rose. In Canada, the South Asian population grew from 68,000 to 310,000 in a span of only 10 years, while in the United States it rose from 387,223 to 1,678,765 in a span of 20 years. This new batch of immigrants was found to be more educated and professionally trained, thus, they are considered part of the new diaspora. While each South Asian group has its unique religion, language, and ethnicity distinct from others, as South Asians they bring with them the same culture as the earlier settlers. Nevertheless, through their education and urbanization, they have

become less prone to the insecurity, alienation, and rampant discrimination their underprivileged predecessors experienced. This new diaspora were more globally competent, thus, they gained entry into these industrialized Western powers not on the basis of their race but on their professional skills as individuals. The Asian Indians, especially, are young, well-educated, English-speaking professionals who were eager to explore new economic opportunities abroad and could meet the international demand for engineers, doctors, scientists, and other professions. Some came with their families while others came alone but were later joined by them. Their families were not necessarily well-educated, and upon settling, took on jobs in the lower sectors as shopkeepers, retail clerks, and factory workers. They, on the other hand, went mainstream took on more affluent jobs. One-third of the Indians in Canada, in fact, are employed in managerial, white-collar jobs and 90% of the entire Indian population resides in the metro areas of Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Montreal. In the United States, more than 60% of Indians live in the metro areas of New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Texas, and California. By 2000, 60% of Indians in America belonged in professional/managerial category in a diverse range of industries from information technology to hospitality to biotechnology to venture capital to management consulting to investment banking to petrochemicals to communications to film making (Lee, 2002). In Europe, 146,300 Indians and Pakistanis began pouring in between 1955 and 1962 when the United Kingdom, in the surge of its rapidly progressing economy developed a serious shortage in its labor force, called for a chain migration of these South Asians from its former colonies. The number grew to 760,000 Indians and 380,000 Pakistanis by 1979. In the 1960s and 70s, a second wave of migration to Europe occurred when South Asians who originally migrated to East Africa through indentured labor suffered intense racist violence from the African government that they fled and sought refuge in Britain, thriving well in small- and

medium-scale business sectors. Educated, professional South Asians also migrated to Europe to take advantage of golden economic opportunities and earn a higher standard of living abroad. Covering a wider range of professional occupations as teachers, doctors, and administrators, Indians are found to be more educated and economically better off and successful than their South Asian counterparts, the Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, who are concentrated in the lowersector industrial jobs like textiles, engineering, metal goods, and transportation. In spite of the reality of racism in this European-dominated society, the South Asian population in London, southeast England, and the West Midlands, a region called the Asian Corridor, is intent on defining their cultural identity, religiosity, and ethnicity from each other and resisting cultural homogenization. They are largely clustered and segmented in different parts of Europe, hence, Wembley is largely composed of Gujarati Hindus, Southall is mostly Sikh, and Bradford and Birmingham are known for the Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslim concentrations. South Asians have also flourished in other former European colonial powers like France, the Netherlands, and Portugal. Upon achieving independence, the natives of their former colonies were driven by such nationalistic passions that the South Asian ethnic groups in these colonies felt threatened and chose to leave for brighter opportunities in the colonizing countries overseas. In these European countries, particularly Germany, the spurt in the influx of South Asians has been dues to the increasing demand for computer and information professionals. In Italy, Turkey, and Greece, there have also been cases of illegal immigration of Punjabi, Tamil, and Bangladeshi agricultural workers seeking to escape poverty and ethnic conflicts in their homeland. These steady emigrations occurring in the post-independence era are generally voluntary in nature, described by scholars as brain drain to the immigrants home country, pattern of migration where skilled

professionals are leaving their nation to seek economic opportunities in the more industrially advanced countries in Europe and America (Ember, 2005). What made the phenomenon that the South Asian Diaspora is today is that it is inextricably linked with European colonization in the early nineteenth century. Historically, the problem of overseas Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and other South Asians can be clearly traced from the politico-economic perspective of colonialism. In fact, the European colonization was the most crucial phase in the South Asian Diaspora. It perpetuated the very first large-scale emigration of South Asians into far-off lands due to the enormous demand for cheap labor force in the different expanding European colonies, and further heightened by the abolition of slavery and the inability of the European countries to meet the shortage with their own labor force. There was massive emigration of South Asians from one part of the Empire to another. It was during this phase when a vast majority of Indian immigrants went as indentured laborers to the Caribbean and Fiji islands, Malaysia, Mauritius, and other parts of the British colony. Massive growth of the industrial sector in Britain and other European powers demanded cheap factory labor, particularly after World War II. Thus, Indians and other South Asians once again became instruments of colonialism (Raghuram, 2008), leaving their traditional occupations behind and taking advantage of these fresh opportunities abroad. When the different colonies slowly attained freedom one by one, the migrant South Asian population facing national political upheavals and racial oppressions from the natives were forced to move out of these countries they first migrated to. Thus, they have become twice-removed diasporic communities and have now established themselves in their second land of adoption Europe and America. Colonialism has still been the cause of these secondary, and even tertiary, South Asian emigrations (Veer, 1995). Soon, other South Asians have heard of the high standard of life their diasporic brothren are living in these

countries that have formerly colonized them, and decide to follow suit. However, immigrant laws have been passed in these wealthy countries, impeding excessive immigrations to control the rapidly growing number of South Asians that is slowly outnumbering the American and European population. Migrations to these industrialized countries have been controlled and restricted, and only the globally competent are allowed access. This, therefore, gave rise to the emigration of white-collar professionals from India and other South Asian countries to the industrialized countries of the West, specifically the United States, Canada, and Britain (Jayaram, 2004). From the above facts, it is evident that colonialism and imperialism provide the key to understanding the South Asian Diaspora in proper perspective. It reveals that South Asians, whether in the colonial or post-independence period, in most cases, did not thrust themselves on other countries, but were mere victims of captive labor by the Imperial powers. If they did thrust themselves on these countries, they were regulated by various immigrant laws, and had to undergo strict measures and various tests before being granted passage. Even their voluntary migrations to these countries in search of greener pasture have been largely influenced by colonialism and their knowledge of the immense power, wealth, and prosperity of the lands of their colonizers. Although thriving in these foreign lands was a challenge to their ethnicity and national identity, in the long run, it was economically rewarding and culturally beneficial to them as individuals and as a nation, since they have proven themselves by being incorporated into the top quality sectors of the economies of these host countries.

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Ember, Melvin, Carol R. Ember, and Ian Skoggard, eds. Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. New York: Springer Science+Business Media, 2005. Fludernik, Monika, ed. Diaspora and Multiculturalism: Common Traditions and New Developments. New York: Rodopi, 2003. Gottheil, Richard, and Thodore Reinach. Diaspora. JewishEncyclopedia.com. The Kopelman Foundation, 2002. 24 Mar. 2010 <http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp? artid=329&letter=D#933>. Hooker, Richard. The Diaspora. Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 1996. 25 Mar. 2010 <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Diaspora.html>. Jayaram, N., ed. The Indian Diaspora: Dynamics of Migration. New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2004. Lal, Vinay. The Indian Diaspora. MANAS. University of California, Los Angeles, Aug. 2009. 24 Mar. 2010 <http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Diaspora/diaspora.html>. Lal, Vinay. II. Indentured Labor and the Indian Diaspora in the Carribean. MANAS. University of California, Los Angeles, Aug. 2009. 25 Mar. 2010 <http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Diaspora/freed.html>. Lee, Josephine, Imogene L. Lim, and Yuko Matsukawa, eds. Re/collecting Early Asian America: Essays in Cultural History. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2002. McLeod, John. The History of India. Westport, CI: Greenwood Press, 2002.

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ONeil, Dennis. Acculturation: Part 1. Culture Change. Behavioral Sciences Department, Palomar College, 22 Jul. 2009. 24 Mar. 2010 <http://anthro.palomar.edu/change/change_3.htm>. Raghuram, Parvati, ed. Tracing an Indian Diaspora: Contexts, Memories, Representations. New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2008. Rai, Rajesh, and Peter Reeves, eds. The South Asian Diaspora: Transnational Networks and Changing Identities. Abingdon, O.X.: Routledge, 2009. Tinker, Hugh. A New System of Slavery: The Export of Indian Labor Overseas. 2nd ed. London: Hansib Publishing, 1993. Veer, Peter van der, ed. Nation and Migration: The Politics of Space in the South Asian Diaspora. Philadelphia, P.A.: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995.

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