India’s Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh told me during my meeting with him in Chennai in January 2009 that India was keen to embrace all its children “forgotten for generations” and that it was time to be globally inclusive.
He drew particular reference to Indo-Fijians, saying that the concept of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2009 (PBD, at which I was a speaker) or the ‘Indian Diaspora Day’ held every year was a platform to bring together all “People of Indian Origin” (PIO).
“There are more than 25 million PIO living in various parts of the world and until recently we did not get well acquainted with the kaleidoscopic traits of our Diaspora.
“The Diaspora’s deep reserves of goodwill were waiting to be tapped,” he said.
Many Indo-Fijians had told me in the past that they had always felt excluded by the mainstream Indian community in New Zealand and by the Indian government in New Delhi and that over the years, they felt orphaned by both.
“There is not a single organisation that can be truly called, ‘Indian.’ There are separate organisations to serve the interests of the two distinct groups.
“It is possible that one or two PIO may be in a couple of Indian associations that is an exception, not the rule,” they said.
Rise of the GOPIO
Global Organisation for People of Indian Origin comprises Indians from any part of the world.
“This organisation prides itself of having integrated PIO from all parts of the world and has a true representative of all Indians, irrespective of their immediate ancestry. There is no place for politics of any kind, although we take up issues with governments and politicians for the larger benefit of the community,” President Alkesh Sharma said.
India’s love for its Diaspora has just blossomed after decades of nonchalance, which stymied PIO from exercising efforts to give something back to their mother country.
This negligence was perhaps understandable. India has never been short of people, and deep down, its policymakers may have felt they could afford to spare a few million to other nations.
Whenever the country ran short of foreign exchange, it would rely on Indians abroad to deposit their pounds and dollars in Indian banks, or remit their riyals and dirhams to Indian families.
Relatives would also expect a suitcase full of gifts from “foreign” (as the rest of the world was called) whenever their far-flung sons and daughters returned home.
But that was about it. The Diaspora expected little of India (that was why they left) and India in turn made few demands of them.
That equation has changed and the evidence was visible at the PBD 2009.
The above is a modified version of a report that appeared in our May 15, 2009 issue incorporating the 130th Anniversary of Girmit in Fiji.
