The Global Presence of Indians

Indians are more enterprising and successful when they go to other countries. This was old story. Today the same people are turning India upside down and making it a happening place. But the wealth from abroad and success quotient is a strong inspiration. From the entrance to exit most of the developed countries boosts Indians. They are energetic, enterprising and quick. Whether London or Lisbon or Washington or Warsaw, there is no shortage for Indians.

The Times of India writes (9 october 2009)

This may well be the ultimate ode to the globetrotting Indian who, for centuries, has been criss-crossing the world in search of
opportunity and adventure — Indian citizens are today permanent residents of all but three countries in the world.

The ministry of overseas Indian affairs has registered the presence of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in 180 of 183 countries of the world. The numbers may vary from just two in Lebanon to almost a million in the United States of America but the fact is that Indians call the whole world their home. It is only in North Korea, Pakistan and Bhutan that not a single NRI is to be found.

NRIs are Indians, who like steel tycoon Laxmi Mittal, proudly hold on to their blue Indian passports while living in another country. They are also different from ordinary Indian citizens who obtain visas and go abroad to work or study for a limited period of time. NRIs remain citizens of India but enjoy the right to live and work permanently in another country of their choice.

Indians can now be found in the remotest corners of the Earth. Go to the Republic of Palau, a speck of an island nation in the Pacific Ocean which is one of the world’s youngest sovereign states, and you will find five NRIs there. And don’t be surprised to find 20 of them living in the mountains of Bolivia or a 375-strong Indian community living in tiny Djibouti on the Horn of Africa.

Historically, Indian communities have had a major presence in several parts of the world. Be it Gujarati merchants who settled in East Africa, Tamil Chettiars who lived in south-east Asia or indentured labourers taken from Bihar to work on plantations in the West Indies, Indians have been migrating to other countries for centuries. During the two World Wars, they fought for the British army and settled down in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. The NRIs were a post-independence addition to this long list of migrants.

But it is also true that, historically, the NRI’s favoured destinations have been First World countries or West Asia, where employment opportunities abound. But the latest data confirm that in a globalized world, NRIs are making opportunities in literally every corner of the Earth.

The largest number of NRIs are in Saudi Arabia (17 lakh) followed by the United Arab Emirates (14 lakh) and the US (9 lakh) but what is more fascinating is they can also be found — albeit in minuscule numbers — in Slovenia (10), Montserrat (10), Iceland (21), Bosnia and Herzegovina (30) and Burkina Faso (150).

Experts also point out that, if People of Indian Origin (PIOs) — a term for citizens of other countries who have an Indian ancestry — are included, then both Pakistan and Bhutan would also find it difficult to shake off the Indian links to their populations.

Foreign students as security risk?

Students are watched carefully during security checks. All over the world, students are considered as potential security risks. Hence there is an all round watch over them. India has less than 30,000 students from foreign countries. USA has over 5.5 lakh students. Yet India is more worried about foreign students than USA. The reason is simple – security fear and lack of single window clearance for the students. Without analyzing the economic potential of the foreign students, the Government of India is having knee jerk reactions. The real culprits are left out but the innocent students are harassed. Despite the technological development over staying guests were checked adequately and deported.

The Times of India (26.12.2008, p.11) reports “Foreign students enrolled in different institutions of India – are under the police scanner. Their visa details are being scrutinized to find out whether some of them might have overstayed, posing a security risk.

The move has been initiated by the Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRROs) through respective state/U police forces across the country in the wake of the Centre’s direction to weed out overstaying foreign nationals through detailed checks post Mumbai terror attacks.

“Although it is an ongoing exercise in the case of al foreigners who visit India on valid documents, the idea is to sensitize educational institutions of the problem of overstaying students and its security implications for India”, said a senior home ministry official.

Incidentally, no Pakistani student was enrolled in the country as on December 31, 2007,. Though the ministry has not come out with any specific figure of overstaying foreign students, the enormity of the problem can be understood by the huge numbers of missing Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals who have just disappeared while visiting India.

The figure shows that over 62,000 Bangladeshi nationals disappeared after expiry of their visa during 2005-07. The number of missing Bangladeshis (62,547) is in fact much higher than the number of Pakistanis (22,097) who had come to India using proper visas and subsequently vanished.

Top 10 States/UTs having foreign students (28,842)
Delhi 7,424
Maharastra 5,551
Tamil Nadu 4,956
Andra Pradesh 2,289
West Bengal 1,697
Uttar Pradesh 1,486
Kerala 1,050
Gujarat 721
Punjab 576
Himachal Pradesh 572

Top 10 – (Country-wise break-up)
US 2,645
Sri Lanka 1,642
Hungary 1,557
Bangladesh 1,411
Sudan 1,078
Thailand 1,038
UK 891
Kenya 816
Afghanistan 801
Malaysia 792

An efficient administrative setup is needed to capitalize the human resources of India. Foreign students should be given all the possible help and clearances should be given in a single window. Those who overstay and violate the visa procedures should be immediately deported. There should not be a mix of priorities. India is relaxed over both the issues which cost the economy and society very dearly.

Malaysian Tamil Rights

Anger against the migrants is common across the world. Whether in Australia or in England or in America, the native population is becoming restless. But it is sad to see hundreds of years old Indian migrants in Malaysia are ill-treated by the government. Eight percent of the Malaysian population is ethnic Tamils migrated few centuries back to work in the plantations. The British colonizers keen to develop the rubber plantations hired ethnic Tamils from south India to clear wild forests and plant rubber trees for the industrial growth. Once they reached the alien shores of Malaysia, the Tamils have worked hard and gave their life to develop the remote territory. What is considered as the economic strength of the miniscule nation Malaysia came in a sizeable form from the Tamils. They sweated and toiled in harsh conditions to develop the rubber estates. Without the selfless service and work of the migrant Tamils, Malaysia may not have moved in the forward direction. Forgetting this commendable contribution, the Malaysian government which is predominantly dominated by the ethnic Malays negatively discriminate the Tamils. The common complaints of the ethnic Tamils are, adequate opportunities are not given for them in the government jobs and services, and they are treated as the second class citizens in their own country. This accusation however untrue may be at the deeper level, seems to be a open truth at the surface point.

For instance, in politics only 0.5 percent of the Tamils are visible. There is only one cabinet minister for the 8 percent of the population. In the government jobs only a fraction of the Tamil population is able to get employment and that too cronies of the ethnic Malays. This insensitivity of the state breeds frustration among the ethnic Tamils who have contributed immensely for the economic and social might of Malaysia.

The fact of the matter is the Malaysian political system is used to having a high mix of autocracy and bureau tic governance. The false democratic rulers of Malaysia are elected through the sycophant members of parliament from the ethnic Tamils. For a very long period the ethnic Tamils have trusted their own men and elected them to parliament in their predominant constituencies. Unfortunately the parliamentary representatives of ethnic Tamils have failed to live upto the needs of their community members. Despite multiple representations and complaints to the Tamil MPS, there is no sign of improvement in the lives of common ethnic Tamils. This has pressurized them to go to the streets and protest against the naked discrimination by the state.

One possible reason is the frustration of the bhumi putras due to the high mobility of the migrants. This symptom is developing across the world. Large scale migration being the by product of globalization is fuelling unrest around the globe. The Turkish migrants are hated in Germany for occupying every corner of Berlin and other important cities with their kebab shops. Indians are disliked for their over domination in London, New York and many other metropolitan cities of the developed world. Although the reactions against Indians have not gone too bad, I guess this is the beginning of the worst days ahead. The outrage is not against Indians but the expression of indigestion of the natives about the growth of migrant population. It is nothing but natural for the bhumi putras to express their anger and depression through violence. If the state is keen to avoid a showdown between the bhumi putras and karmaputras it is important to engage both of them in constructive activities. Malaysian being a tough state managing only wealth and development at least for the last two decades has failed to act on the waiting time bomb.