Rising India and Indian Communities in East Asia

3. The Movement of Indians in East Asia: Contemporary and Historical Encounters

27 3 THE MOVEMENT OF INDIANS IN EAST ASIA: CONTEMPORARY AND HISTORICAL ENCOUNTERS Amarjit Kaur In฀ recent฀ years฀ qualitative฀ and฀ quantitative฀ changes฀ in฀ Indian฀ migration฀ ฀ have฀ gained฀ the฀ increasing฀ attention฀ of฀ researchers,฀ policymakers฀ and฀ organizations฀ such฀ as฀ the฀ World฀ Bank฀ (WB),฀ the฀ International฀ Labour฀ Office฀(ILO)฀and฀the฀International฀Organization฀for฀Migration฀(IOM).฀This฀ movement฀of฀Indians฀comprises฀a฀variety฀of฀flows฀—฀transient฀professionals฀ or฀ knowledge฀ workers,฀ skilled฀ permanent฀ migrants,฀ students,฀ unskilled฀ workers฀and฀business฀streams฀—฀and฀the฀destinations฀have฀also฀broadened.฀ Skilled฀ Indian฀ migration฀ to฀ North฀ America,฀ Europe,฀ Australasia฀ and฀ East฀ Asia฀is฀also฀taking฀place฀within฀regional฀blocs฀and฀policy฀frameworks฀have฀ been฀established฀to฀facilitate฀these฀migrant฀flows.฀In฀view฀of฀the฀fact฀that฀ structural฀relationships฀facilitating฀migration฀have฀become฀well-established,฀ most฀governments฀today฀exert฀greater฀control฀over฀migration฀through฀national฀ policies,฀and฀bilateral/multilateral฀agreements.฀The฀Indian฀government,฀for฀ example,฀ actively฀ encourages฀ emigration฀ as฀ a฀ key฀ instrument฀ to฀ promote฀ national฀ development.฀ The฀ expectation฀ is฀ that฀ both฀ remittances฀ and฀ the฀ experiences฀ and฀ knowledge฀ gained฀ abroad฀ will฀ be฀ used฀ to฀ further฀ India’s฀ own฀development฀programmes.฀Additionally,฀the฀Indian฀government฀is฀also฀ relying฀ on฀ the฀ expansion฀ and฀ greater฀ role฀ of฀ transnational฀ networks฀ that฀ link฀the฀migrants฀to฀both฀India฀and฀the฀destination฀countries. 03฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀27 8/28/08฀฀฀11:48:33฀AM 28 Amarjit Kaur Yet฀ this฀ contemporary฀ movement/migration฀ of฀ Indians฀ in฀ East฀ Asia฀ remains฀little฀understood฀principally฀because฀of฀its฀recent฀nature฀and฀scarce฀ data.฀ Moreover,฀ the฀ Indian฀ government’s฀ recent฀ initiatives฀ in฀ mobilizing฀ transnational฀Indian฀communities฀to฀engage฀in฀“Rising”฀India’s฀development฀ plans฀also฀needs฀to฀be฀understood฀in฀the฀context฀of฀the฀colonial฀era฀economic฀ structures฀and฀historical฀encounters.฀Against฀this฀backdrop,฀this฀chapter฀first฀ identifies฀the฀major฀significant฀patterns฀of฀Indian฀movement฀into฀East฀Asia฀ in฀the฀late฀nineteenth฀and฀early฀twentieth฀centuries฀and฀examines฀the฀contexts ฀of฀this฀movement.฀This฀will฀form฀the฀basis฀for฀making฀an฀assessment฀ of฀contemporary฀patterns฀and฀the฀larger฀chronology฀of฀migration฀flows,฀and฀ the฀relevance฀of฀diasporic฀organizations,฀insofar฀as฀it฀can฀be฀established.฀The฀ second฀ part฀ of฀ the฀ chapter฀ focuses฀ on฀ current฀ Indian฀ movement฀ to฀ East฀ Asia฀and฀policy฀initiatives฀in฀destination฀states.฀The฀chapter฀also฀discusses฀ the฀role฀of฀the฀Indian฀government฀in฀promoting฀cooperation฀with฀Indian฀ diasporic฀communities. INTRODUCTION The Beginnings Prior฀ to฀ the฀ sixteenth฀ century,฀ Indian฀ migratory฀ movements฀ within฀ the฀ ฀ Asian฀region฀were฀relatively฀small-scale฀in฀nature฀and฀limited฀in฀geographic฀ scope.฀ There฀ was฀ significant฀ mercantile฀ or฀ religious฀ travel฀ involving฀ Indians฀in฀the฀region฀which฀predated฀the฀arrival฀of฀European฀commercial฀ interests.฀ Indian฀ traders฀ were฀ also฀ prominent฀ in฀ Southeast฀ Asia’s฀ leading฀ regional฀ entrepôts฀ and,฀ although฀ trade฀ was฀ small฀ in฀ volume,฀ it฀ was฀ a฀ ฀ source฀ for฀ the฀ transmission฀ of฀ ideas,฀ new฀ products฀ and฀ technologies,฀ and฀ migrants.฀The฀Indians฀(like฀the฀Chinese)฀came฀from฀a฀country฀with฀a฀long฀ ฀ history฀ of฀ manufacturing,฀ a฀ monetized฀ economy,฀ and฀ sophisticated฀ commerce .฀ Gujerati฀ and฀ Chulia฀ merchants฀ had฀ been฀ trading฀ with฀ Southeast฀ Asia,฀ exchanging฀ Indian-made฀ textiles฀ for฀ Southeast฀ Asian฀ spices,฀ in฀ a฀ ฀ trading฀ network฀ that฀ linked฀ the฀ ports฀ of฀ the฀ Indian฀ sub-continent฀ with฀ ฀ others฀ on฀ the฀ eastern฀ shore฀ of฀ the฀ Bay฀ of฀ Bengal,฀ in฀ Burma,฀ Thailand,฀ ฀ and฀ the฀ Malay฀ States.฀ Indian฀ political฀ institutions,฀ specifically฀ Hindu-฀ Buddhist฀ traditions฀ of฀ kingship,฀ were฀ introduced฀ into฀ Southeast฀ Asia฀ by฀ ฀ the฀ seventh฀ century฀ A.D.,฀ and฀ Indian฀ culture฀ was฀ the฀ dominant฀ external฀ influence฀ in฀ the฀ region฀ in฀ the฀ form฀ of฀ Hindu-Buddhist฀ religious-cultural฀ systems. Significant฀emigration฀of฀Indians฀to฀Southeast฀Asia฀dates฀from฀the฀late฀ nineteenth฀century฀and฀was฀consistent฀with฀imperial-led฀globalization฀and฀ 03฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀28 8/28/08฀฀฀11:48:34฀AM The Movement of Indians in East Asia 29 the฀ greater฀ integration฀ of฀ Southeast฀ Asia฀ into฀ the฀ international฀ economy.฀ Colonialism฀also฀led฀to฀the฀first฀phase฀of฀mass฀Indian฀migration฀and฀laid฀the฀ frameworks฀for฀a฀nascent฀Indian฀diaspora฀in฀Southeast฀Asia,฀particularly฀in฀ ฀ the฀ British฀ territories฀ of฀ Malaya฀ (Malaysia฀ and฀ Singapore)฀ and฀ Burma฀ (Myanmar).฀But฀Indian฀migrants฀were฀a฀heterogeneous฀group,฀divided฀along฀ lines฀ of฀ class,฀ religion,฀ language฀ group฀ and฀ residential฀ location฀ based฀ on฀ occupational฀category.฀Moreover,฀movement฀to฀these฀territories฀was฀essentially฀ an฀internal฀movement฀within฀the฀British฀Empire,฀and฀the฀labour฀contracts฀ encouraged฀circulatory฀movement฀reinforced฀by฀specific฀legislative฀provisions,฀ particularly฀for฀migration฀to฀Malaysia฀and฀Singapore.฀Colonial฀policies,฀which฀ were฀predicated฀on฀ethnic฀differentiation,฀discouraged฀permanent฀settlement฀ and฀the฀establishment฀of฀a฀settled฀diaspora...