PACHU MENON
Just as predicted days before the UK general election held on 12th December 2019, news reports that the new parliament set to be voted in is expected to witness an increase in the number of Indian-origin candidates this time came so very true -- 15 Indian-origin MPs entered the House of Commons.
In the US, the rise of Indian American candidates to political prominence is viewed as a natural progression for a community that has more than doubled over the decades in the country.
The Miss Universe pageant 2019 at Atlanta in the US state of Georgia witnessed five Indian-origin contestants competing for the title.
The representation of people of Indian descent is also felt in the world of sports making it more than obvious how well people of Indian birth, descent or origin have adapted to the foreign settings and are making a name for themselves in their adopted countries.
At one point in India’s history, the economic conditions were such that, it is said, several families decided to migrate to other nations for employment and a higher standard of living.
Examples of contributions by people of Indian descent to the social, economic and political growth of the countries where they have settled abound. Excelling in their chosen areas of professions, many have already made a mark for themselves in countries where they have migrated to.
Hence it comes as a big surprise that many in India still consider migrants from the other states within the Republic as ‘outsiders’ and want necessary laws made to prevent them from availing the benefits made to them as locals of the area.
The other day, a friend of mine who owns a paint-shop in the city was lamenting over the drastic drop in his turnover and blamed the migrant business community for having finished off the Goans.
Very much as the state of Kerala plays host to several Bengali and Assamese migrants who have gradually replaced locals working in shops, hotels and petrol pumps, Goa is today in the throes of a ‘Rajasthani takeover’ .
Well known for their skills in tiles-fitting and as confectioners and sweet-makers, Rajasthani masons and halwais have already made their presence felt in the state. Today, Marwaris, as they are generally called, have diversified into various business activities.
Hardware shops, paint shops, mobiles and accessories, pharmacies, stationery shops, tiles, bathroom-fittings and general stores; in fact they appear to have a finger in every pie.
With their overwhelming presence, even the business culture in Goa seems to have undergone a metamorphosis. Slowly, but steadily, the state looks set to bid good bye to ‘institutional’ timings as business hours.
The markets abuzz even as late as midnight signal an inglorious end of the colonial customs where the ‘siesta’ hours in the afternoon and the closure of the markets as early as 7 pm in the night has been done away with to facilitate better shopping experience.
Adept at selling strategies, it is the manner in which they have brought variety and competition into the business that has riled the local trading community. However, competition is the essence of any business. Monopoly over any trading activity is not good, nor is it ever appreciated by the consumers. Healthy competition keeps the market alive.
The locals nevertheless refuse to see the changing trends and are conspicuous by their reluctance to change with the times.
Nonetheless, if it is the dominance of ‘outsiders’ over almost every commercial activity in the state that is being resented by the local business community, it is time Goans realized that their complacence and indolence is responsible for the present state of affairs.
It is, however, unfortunate that the ‘outsider’ rhetoric is being stretched to impossible limits here in Goa.
While Goans have had no regrets over Russians, Israelis, Nigerians and other foreign nationals establishing their ‘colonies’ along the coastal belt in the state and indulging in illegal activities which has brought the fair name of the state to disrepute, the ‘Lamani’ row has more than clearly established the locals’ penchant for overlooking the ‘imported’ indiscretions over the ‘inland’ vices.
The Lamanis are members of the ‘Banjara’ community, gypsies to be precise, with origins in central and southern Indian states. Many of them have been residing in Goa for years now.
As common sights along most of the Goan beaches, selling trinkets and other wares to tourists, Lamanis today constitute a sizeable population in the state. Having settled in different parts of Goa, they have however stirred immigration debates all across the state.
Frequent standoffs between locals and Lamanis over the share of tourism industry spoils apparently prompted the public ill-will against the Lamanis.
That the children of the early Lamani settlers have become part of the Goan society is more than evident. Many have been educated in schools and colleges in Goa. Some have become teachers and have been elected to village panchayats as well.
The ongoing pushback against migrants by the agitated local community has only accentuated rising differences between the natives and ‘outsiders’ across the spheres of employment, business, politics and land ownership.
Since when have state borders become international boundaries that Indian citizens require visas and passports to travel freely and without fear within the country?
Despite tall claims of India being a union of different states, parochial interests still continue to influence residents who view any ‘intrusion’ into their territories by ‘outsiders’ as a sacrilegious act.
The debates over the Citizenship Amendment Act notwithstanding, migrants lose the right to be recognized as bona fide citizens of the country the moment they move out of the precincts of their states “ at least the residents of the ‘host’ state ensure that.
Are fears that the continued migration will only make Goans ‘an alienated microscopic minority within their own state’ more political than factual? Considering however the vote-bank politics the local leaders indulge in for their electoral ‘sustenance’, the argument that the gradual influx of migrants was diluting the ethnic character of Goa needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Just as there is movement of people from other states into Goa, similarly reports about the large presence of Goans in other states should not sound strange to the ears. Imagine the stigma of living all through the years with the tag of ‘outsiders’, completely uncertain about their ‘migratory’ status in the states they are settled in.
If demanding special status for the state means ‘exclusiveness’ in the sense that only Goans can populate the region with migrants being reduced to outcasts, it hardly serves any purpose in the larger interest of the country.
