Diaspora: Introduction &

Conceptualization
Dr. Payel Pal
Contemporary fictions of South Asian Diaspora
HSS, The LNMIIT
January- April 2018
The India-Pakistan Partition of 1947
The India-Pakistan Partition of 1947
Displacement and violence
Migration from Bangladesh to India-fleeing
from communal massacres
The Rohingyas and mass dispossession
 Introduction
• The “Diaspora” originally meant the dispersion of Jews from Babylon
and the fleeing of Greeks after the fall of Constantinople. More
recently, the term has come to mean a dispersion of originally similar
people.
• A diaspora exists when those people, living far from home, forge some
sort of community with each other, and maintain a relationship (real or
otherwise) with their homeland.
• The transnational communities wedded to host lands and profoundly
connected to homelands – have added a new dimension to the
contemporary debates on economic and political systems, national
cultures and international relations.
 Underpinnings of diaspora
• Cross-border Migration/ Dispersion and Settlement:
It implies a dispersion in which the territorial boundaries of the state are
crossed, followed by settlement in the “new land”. This cross-border
movement can be either voluntary or involuntary, but that leads to a
permanent or, at least, long-term settlement in the host country or in a
third country, if remigration takes place.
• Host Land Participation:
Settlement in the new land signifies not only residence, but participation
in the economic and political processes of the host land. The immigrants
create a niche for themselves and affect the host nation’s social,
economic and political domains.
 Underpinnings of diaspora
• Homeland Consciousness
It implies a sense of awareness about the existence of a motherland
(sometimes as a non-existent one) beyond the borders of the country of
settlement. The manifestation of the homeland consciousness can be
varied:
 It can be retained in memory (like the Parsi community in India)
It can be recreated as a version of homeland—such as the creation of
‘little India’ by early South Asian migrants.
It can exist in the form of social, political and economic involvements
through networks (as in the present world).
 Underpinnings of diaspora
• Homeland Consciousness
In case of re-migration from host country to a third country, the
homeland consciousness is entrenched in two different locations rather
than one.
An interesting case in point is the Sri Lankan Tamils’ diaspora, who
have re-migrated to the western countries and possess a strong
homeland (which is imaginary) consciousness, that manifests through
their support for the separatist movements.
 Underpinnings of diaspora
• Construction of a ‘multi-locational self’
It involves recreation of an identity, drawing both from home and host
lands and is not marked by strict boundaries. Such an identity is distinct
and undergoes changes as generations pass by. Both homeland and host
land dynamics play a crucial role in the formation of such identities.
It is clearly evident in the inter-country variations in the diaspora
groups arising out of the same home country.
It is also the reason why ‘diasporic’ homecoming is fraught with
problems of reintegration—instead of re-grouping, the returnees
undergo what has been termed by the critics as ‘double diasporisation’
 Conceptualizing Diaspora
• According to the High Level Committee set up by the Government of
India in 2001— “Indian Diaspora is a generic term used for addressing
people who have migrated from the territories that are currently within
the borders of the Republic of India”
• The term comes out with specific groupings:
PIOs– Persons of Indian Origin who are no longer Indian citizens
NRIs– Non-resident Indians who continue to be full-fledged citizens
of India holding passport.
OICs- Overseas Indian Citizens
 Classical Wave of Migration

• Ever since the civilizational growth of the Indian sub-continent began,

the Indians have been moving as preachers, sailors, traders, laborers,
gypsies and several other forms.

• Although these early sojourners are yet to find their due in the Indian
historical works, they have been always part of the Indian imaginary.

• Several Indian folklores and folk cultures are replete with the
“adventures of” and “longing for” the one who ahs gone beyond the
seas. Indian trading activities and settlements throughout west Asia,
central Asia, Africa and South-east Asia are mentioned in the foreign
historical records such as that of Alexander the Great, Periplus of
Arithrian Sea and that of the Greeks and the Arabs. .
 1830s to the Second World War
• The colonial economic patterns and growth of plantations resulted in
various forms of state-sponsored mass labor and migration
(indentured, kangani, maistry, convict and so forth).
• This consequently led to permanent settlements and formation of a
diaspora, also known as ‘old diaspora’. For several of these groups,
“Indian” is still a generic term, which includes other south Asians such
as Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and even Sri Lankans.
• Indentured and similar migration systems were the largest group
among government sponsored migration. The abolition of slavery and
the growth of plantation economy steered the need for a cheap supply
of labor for which India became the prime source.
 1830s to the Second World War
• Apart from the unfree labor, other forms of government-sponsored
migrations during the colonial period were the semi-skilled and skilled
labor force, recruited directly by the government as service providers
and junior officers.
• This category included a number of Pathans and Sikhs recruited as
security personnel and guards.
• The British colonies in South-east Asia received large number of such
Indians who got into business and moneylending.
• Apart from the government-sponsored migrations, there were also
self-sponsored migrants called “free-passage Indians”.
 Free-Passage Indians
• Majority of the ‘free-passage Indians’ belonged to the trading
communities from all over India.
• Though such migrations took place from the Indian subcontinent, but
the global economic transitions after the 18th century further propelled
the process.
• Indian traders and entrepreneurs established highly successful business
across Asian and African countries.
• Caste and regional networks played extremely important roles in such
migrations and kept them connected to the motherland.
 Free-Passage Indians
• There was also a small number of ‘returnees’ who having completed
their indentured contracts returned to India. But unable to reintegrate
into the traditional Indian society , they went back to resettle in the
countries to which they had originally migrated.
• Such migrations were rotational but permanent settlements followed
after second World War, especially in colonies where the indentured,
‘kangani’ or ‘maistry’ laborers were present.
• The free migrants sometimes presented tough challenge to the
European businesses and were often subjected to various stereotypes
and public criticism in India.
 Post-Second World War Migrations

• By mid-20th century (largely after second world war), there emerged a

new trend in migration and settlement of the skilled and highly skilled
professionals to the developed world.
• In the initial years such migrations were United Kingdom (UK)
centric. However, as the United States (US) immigration regime
became more liberal during the mid-1960s, the wave got diverted
towards the US.
• At present, Australia and other Asia-Pacific countries attract a large
number of migrants, making South-South migration larger than South-
North migration.
 Post-Second World War Migrations
• Marked by what has been termed as “brain-drain” this process came
under severe scrutiny and prejudiced the Indian public opinion against
the highly affluent diaspora who mostly got their degrees from the
publicly subsidized institutions in India.

• However with the opening of the India’s economy in the early 1990s,
the so-called ‘brain drain’ started yielding positive results in terms of
‘brain-regain’ , investments, remittances, philanthropy, transfer of
technology and skill.
 Post-Second World War Migrations
• Another group in the new diaspora is the skilled, semi-skilled and
unskilled labor migration to the Gulf and the south-east Asian
countries. The oil boom in the West Asia during the 1980s saw an
upsurge in infrastructure building activities, which attracted a large
number of migrant workers from India.
• It was followed by an influx of remittances hugely benefiting India’s
foreign exchange reserves and initiating a shift in India’s policy
perspective toward the diaspora.
• Although such migrations did not result in permanent settlements, they
form a significant section under the category of NRIs.
 Twice Migrants
• This term coined by Parminder Bachu (in 1985) refer to those people
of Indian descent who have re-migrated from their original host
countries to developed countries. Such movements are also termed as
secondary migrations.
• The Indo-Guyanese in North America, the Sarnami Hindustanis in
Netherlands, the Indo-Ugandans in UK, and the Indo-Fijians in New
Zealand, Canada and Australia fall under this category.
• Despite retaining Indian religious and cultural practices, they develop
a strong connection with the country of their first migration where
they stayed for generations and maintain close familial ties.
 Some glimpses of migrations in South Asia
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncFm4L3eMtk
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coqn0mOEKGg
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjZXrMmWDTo
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUsLUSbLSsI
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0doZRfOEHU