The Chinese Community
in India
Negotiating Mobility and Belonging
By Severin Kuok
Migration
“Diaspora” is derived from the Greek word
διασπορά (diaspeirō) meaning “scattering
or dispersion” of a population having a
common origin.
According to Steven Vertovec, any
population which is considered
‘deterritorialised’ or ‘transnational’ --
that is, a population originating in a land
other than the one in which it currently
resides, and whose social, economic and
political networks cross the borders of
nation-states or, indeed, span the globe.
Mobility
Historical Movements of Chinese
Diaspora
Chinese Community in India:
Initial Phase
Chinese Community in India: Growth
Articulation of experiences
1. Personal Goals:
1. To get a PHD
2. Sense of achievement
2. Practical Goals: Effect on policy decisions by both
India and China on this community
3. Intellectual Goals:
1. Adding to the available scholarship on this
community.
2. Leading to better understanding of diaspora
communities in second and third generation
context.
Conceptual Framework
Transnational migration is not a long-term
threat to assimilation, nor does it take away
from migrants' ability to contribute to and be
loyal to their host country. As increasing
numbers of migrants live parts of their social
and economic lives across national
boundaries, the question is no longer whether
this is good or bad, but rather, how to ensure
they are protected, represented, and that
they contribute something in return. (Levitt,
2004)
Under what circumstances did the two categories
of re-migrants leave India?
Did the circumstances affect their sense of
belonging and identity in the new ‘host’ country?
What are the ‘collective memories’ of these two
groups in terms of their ‘ancestral home’ in India?
If and how are ‘return mobilities’ negotiated by
each group?
Methodology and Fieldwork Sites
Methodology:
- Personal and telephonic interviews
- Observations
Field Site
Chinese Indians now residing in Luliang
country in Yunnan Province (deportees of
1962).
Chinese Indian community now settled in
Toronto, Canada (voluntary migrants).
Methodology
Luliang Overseas Farm in Luliang Country,
Yunnan
Old houses in the overseas Chinese
village in Luliang
( 陆良华侨农场 )
My
family
in
Luliang
My maternal
grandfather’s grave in
My maternal Uncle and his family
The new houses in Luliang overseas
village
Some more people with Indian roots in Lulia
