Indian diaspora
A non-resident Indian (NRI) is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country. Other terms with the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate Indian. Lately the phrase Person of Indian Origin (PIO) has also gained usage. The chief difference between NRIs and a PIOs is that the former are direct emigrants from India, where as second and third generation NRIs are referred to as PIOs.
There is a huge PIO population across the world, estimated at around 20 million.
History of Indian emigration
Prior to the arrival of the British in India, the most significant emigration from India was to South East Asia. It started as a military expedition by the kings of South India and resulted in the settlers merging with the local society. The influence of Indian culture is still strongly felt in South East Asia, although it is not reasonable to apply the label PIOs to the descendents of emigrants several centuries back.
During the nineteenth century and until the end of the Raj, much of the migration that happened was of a forced nature - export of (thinly disguised) slave labor to other colonies under the indenture system. The major destinations, in chronological order were Mauritius, British Guyana, West Indies (Trinidad and Jamaica), Fiji and East Africa. There was also a small amount of free emigration of skilled laborers and professionals to some of these countries in the twentieth century.
An unrelated system involved recruitment of workers for the tea plantations of the neighboring countries of Sri Lanka and Burma and to Malaya.
During the Partition of India, there was a lot of migration between India and Pakistan.
After independence in 1947, the pattern of emigration naturally changed. At first Indians sought better fortune mainly in the United Kingdom, but later North America, especially the USA became the favored destination after change in Indian emigration law that made this possible. Some displaced PIOs in Africa (especially under Idi Amin in Uganda) and the Caribbean also reached the UK. Smaller numbers of Indians have also emigrated to the English speaking countries like Australia.
After the 1970s oil boom in the Middle East, a large number of Indians emigrated to the Gulf countries. However, this was on a contractual basis rather than permanent as in the other cases.
PIOs today
Indian Americans
Indians in the USA are one of the largest among the groups of Indian diaspora, numbering about 1.7 million, and probably the most well off - their median income is 1.5 times that of the host country. They are well repsented in all walks of life, but particularly so in academia, information technology and medicine. There were over 4000 PIO professors and 33,000 Indian-born students in American universities in 1997-98. The American Association of the Physicians of Indian Origin boasts a membership of 35,000. In 2000, Fortune magazine estimated the wealth generated by Indian Silicon Valley entrepreneurs at around $250 billion.
There appear to be class differences within the Indian American community, with earlier professional immigrants looking down upon working-class communities who are later first generation immigrants. Gujarati shopkeepers and Punjabi cab drivers are common stereotypes of the latter community.
Indian Americans are targets of considerable racism. Much of it is invisible, such as the near zero representation on television. Some of it is overt, perhaps the worst example being the New Jersey dot busters - groups of thugs who sought ethnic Indians and mugged them or attacked their property in the late 80s and early 90s, the "dot" referring to the bindi worn traditionally by Hindu women on their forehead. Perhaps the tendency of Indian Americans to retain a strong cultural identity and socialize within their own community and reluctance to integrate into mainstream society has contributed to the problem.
Stereotyping and the lack of awareness of other cultures in America doesn't help. For instance, many Hindus are offended by the negative stereotypes portrayed by the Simpsons character Apu. Calling oneself Indian might easily get one mistaken for native American. The word Hindu was, for a long time, a pejorative for South Asian. The backlash against Arab Americans in the aftermath of 9/11 has included ethnic Indians, especially Sikhs, in its broad sweep. As Indians are racially distinct from mongoloids, they don't identify as Asian Americans, since that term is usually applied to people of Chinese, Japanese or Korean origin. Because of this, Indian Americans form too small a minority group to effectively influence policy making, and find themselves lacking a platform on which to campaign for their rights.
Indians and Pakistanis in the UK
The Indian and Pakistani emigrant community in the United Kingdom is now in its third generation. As an immigrant group, people of Indian and Pakistani origin have been remarkably successful. Stereotypes about Indians and Pakistanis have now moved from their being bus-conductors, waiters, and small shopkeepers to their being doctors, lawyers, accountants and successful businesspeople. Increasingly, the second and third generation of Indians and Pakistanis has started inter-marrying with the rest of the population, to the point where this has in itself become a stereotype.
In a few local areas, ethnic tension has resulted in ill-feeling and racist violence against immigrants, and groups such as the British National Party have exploited this. However, in general, racism towards people of Indian / Pakistani origin has greatly reduced from the early days of mass immigration after Partition and the expulsion of the Ugandan Asians.
Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the UK, to a large extent because of immigrants from the subcontinent. Indian culture has been constantly referenced within wider British culture, at first as an "exotic" influence in films like My Beautiful Laundrette, but now increasingly as a familiar feature in films like Bend It Like Beckham. Indian food is now regarded as part of the British cuisine.
According to the April 2001 UK National Census [1], 4.37% of the population of England and Wales identified themselves as "Asian" or "Asian British", and 0.36% as "Mixed: White and Asian", making a total of 4.73% of the population, or 2.46 million people, identifying themselves as of "Asian" descent. (Note: in the UK context, "Asian" means Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi).
Indians in Malaysia
Indians migrated to Malaysia as plantation laborers under British rule. They are a significant minority ethnic group, making up 10% of the Malaysian population. Most of these are Tamil but some Malayalam and Telugu speaking people are also present. They have retained their languages and religion -- 80% of ethnic Indians in Malaysia identify as Hindus. Hinduism in Malaysia diverges from mainstream (Vedic) Hinduism: its main feature is Mother-goddess (Amman) worship; caste deities, tantric rituals, folk beliefs, non-Agamic temples, and animal sacrifice are its other characterstics. Deepavali and Thaipusam are the main festivals.
The condition of PIOs in Malaysia is by and large miserable. Their economic status hasn't improved over the years. Most plantation laborers live in substandard dwelling, with poor sanitation, electricity and health facilities. More than 150,000 Indians live in slums around Kuala Lumpur. Many of the younger generation are part of armed gangs. Ethnic Indians face discrimination by the government and harassment by the police. Caste divisions and regional and sub-regional loyalties (the Tamils, in particular, known for being zealously loyal to their language and considering non-Tamils non-Indians) have severely impeded the efficacy of pan-Indian organizations.
Reference
todo