President of India Mr. Pranab Mukherjee in his Valedictory Address at the 14th Edition of the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention on Monday asked the diaspora to be foremost emissaries of Indian story in the world and conferred the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman Awards on recipients at the closing ceremony in Bengaluru.
Speaking on the occasion, the President expressed hope that the Indian Diaspora across the world will remain foremost emissaries of the unfolding Indian story. Since they are the people exposed to the best of western technology and yet having their civilisational moorings in the ageless and eternal ethos of India, they are doubly blessed for the task, he noted.
The synergy of the west and the east that they represent, provides them with a unique position and opportunity that involves sharing knowledge between their home land and their adopted countries, said the President. While they showcase India to their host countries, they also bring along the cultural heritage of their adopted lands to India in true spirit exemplifying our belief in ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, said Mr. Mukherjee.
The President said , “Establishing linkages between the Government of India’s skilling programmes and the skill gap that exists amongst the migrant workforce will go a long way in enhancing their employability as well as earnings.”
The President also touched upon the concerns of women and girls in India marrying into NRI families and the government and its agencies deal with this issue, but said it could be best addressed by local Community Organisations. He called upon Indian Community Organisations abroad to continue to complement the government’s efforts.
The President also released a compilation of Selected Speeches by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on foreign policy on the occasion.
The 15th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention will be heldin Bengaluru, Karnataka from January 7 to 9, 2017. The first annual convention was held between January 9 and 11, 2003. January 9 was adopted as the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas or Overseas Indian Day based on the recommendations of a High Level Committee constituted in August, 2000.
The then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was keenly interested in the issue of overseas Indians. The oversubscription of the Resurgent India Bonds in 1998, when India was battling sanctions post-Pokhran II, showed their strong faith in an emerging India. In a post-Liberalization environment the Indian Diaspora was willing to engage back with their country of origin. India becoming an IT power hub, fast growing economy and atomic power gave the Diaspora much needed confidence. It was on display at various places – from sports field to trade conferences and international meets.
The concerns of the overseas Indians had been on the mind of the Indian leadership for long.The House of Commons in Britain was forced to investigate, as early as 1841, into the pitiable condition Indian indentured workers in Mauritius. This was within a few years of beginning of the indentured system following the abolition of slavery in British Empire (1833). Way back in 1894, the Madras session of Congress had adopted a resolution against disenfranchisement of the Indians in South African colonies. The Congress adopted similar resolutions at Poona (1895), Calcutta (1896), Madras (1898), Lahore (1900), Calcutta (1901) and Ahmedabad (1902) sessions. In those days the question of overseas Indians pertained mostly to Indians in South and Eastern Africa. It is they who had launched numerous struggles against encroachment on their rights by the local British government. The Gandhi-Smuts Agreement, 1914 signified a major victory for them.
But there were overseas Indians in South East Asia viz. Burma, Singapore, Malaya, Thailand etc. Many of them contributed towards India’s freedom movement in the 1940s by volunteering in or funding the Azad Hind Fauz of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Of particular interest could be the stories of those teenaged Tamil girls, born in rubber plantations of Malaya, who decided to shoulder guns for the independence of India, a country they had never actually seen.
The PravasiBharatiya Divas memorializes the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi to India on January 9, 1915. He had spent 21 years in South Africa fighting for the rights of Indian community. His technique of Passive Resistance, which he named Satyagraha, was developed in South Africa before being implemented in India. In the colonial world that Gandhi inhabited the profile, status and condition of the overseas Indians were markedly different from today.
Those were the days when one could not have been starry-eyed about ‘going abroad’ and ‘settling abroad’. A bulk of those who migrated abroad went for toiling in plantations or factories under Indenture System (to Africa, West Indies, Fiji etc), Kangany System (to Sri Lanka) and Maistry System (Burma). But they deserve credit as the pioneers who reversed the religious prohibition on seafaring that had fallen upon the Hindu society in the medieval ages.
In colonial times racial discrimination was instituted as a state policy by the colonial government. But the de-colonization brought in its wake another set of problems. In Gandhi’s lifetime itself the Indians in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Burma (Myanmar) entered a critical phase with Ceylonese and Burmese population respectively wanting to get rid of them. The first two legislations passed by the D.S. Senanayake government in independent Ceylon deprived almost a million people of Indian origin of their citizenship. While Indians might have captured power in Mauritius, they have been reduced to a miniscule minority in Myanmar. Thus Indians face a new kind of racialism in those erstwhile colonies.
The age of colonialism was an age of maritime empires. Till late 1950s, steamships were the most dependable mode of inter-continental travels. In early 1960s, the air plane replaced ship as the most preferred mode for long distance travels. It reflected upon the pattern of migration in terms of reach, human resource quality and connectivity with India.
Coincidentally around the same time the passage of Immigration and Nationality Act, 1965 in the USA paved path for immigration of highly skilled professionals and students. This historic piece of legislation changed the size and profile of the Indian immigrant community. From a meager 12,000 in 1960 the number of Indian immigrants has risen to 2.5 million now. Such educated and successful immigrants are providing sinews to the Indian Diaspora.
But there is another side of the coin. When during the years of ‘Socialism’ India remained trapped in poor economic growth rate, the immigrants to the West were somewhat apologetic about their Indian identity. In India also the Non Residents Indians were perceived as escapers. But faster economic growth rate post-Liberalization, India’s emergence as IT power hub and the advent of Vajpayee government etc boosted the morale of the overseas Indians.
The advent of satellite television, Internet and rising tele-density in the 1990s meant overseas Indians could be in regular touch with India. It was now possible for an overseas Indian to spend time thinking the interests of his mother country. Indians, resident and overseas, could commonly exercise opinion on bolstering India’s position in the world stage. This gave rise to the concept of ‘New Global Indian’ as the title of magazine launched from Boston in 2008 by Kanchan Banerjee stated.
But overseas Indian community, in several parts, continues to face severe challenges of racism, religious fanaticism and legislative disabilities. As against popular misconception not everyone is successful. Thus it is not yet time to lower the baton raised by Gandhi in South Africa in the 1890s.
(The writer is a columnist and independent researcher based in New Delhi. The opinions expressed above are his personal.)
The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017 or the annual global convention for the Indian diaspora, to be held in Bangalore from January 7 to 9, 2017 will focus on what the Indian origin NRIs and PIOs achieved in the last few years and an awards function at the end of it will felicitate some of them.
The event, to be attended by over 4,000 delegates from across the world will be opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee will present the awards on the last day. The Bangalore event will be the first full-fledged festival of diaspora Indians under a new format adopted by the government last year.
Dhyaneshwar Mulay, Secretary, Overseas Indian Affairs, said, “Highlight of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017 is social innovations by Indians, 20 social innovations will be highlighted and there will also be a contest of innovators and the winner will get an award of Rs.1 lakh.”
Muley said all sessions will be held in plenary format to allow more interaction with delegates from overseas to convey their suggestions to the government directly. “The sessions will focus on immigration and the role of diaspora organisations,” he said.
The event initially raised several eye-brows over the rumour that participation from the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan would make it different this year but no confirmation has been made so far about it.
The theme this year is ‘Redefining engagement with Indian diaspora’ and the event exhibition would showcase the achievements of the government in various sectors, and the delegates can also explore business opportunities in India and connect with government officials, business owners and entrepreneurs.
