Anglo Indians on Clubhouse

Description

The Anglo-Indian community is one of the smallest minority groups in India. Most of the current estimates for the Anglo-Indian population are around 125,000-150,000, living mostly in Kolkatta and Chennai. A population estimated at about 1 million at the time of Independence has seen rapid contraction, with large-scale migration to the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Notably, Anglo-Indians are a group specifically defined in the Constitution Art 366(2), and are the only ethnic community that had its own representatives nominated to the Indian Parliament (two members) and to several state assemblies (14 of the 29 states have one nominated member each).until.last year when this was revoked by the current BJP govt.


The key issue faced by the community is the challenge to maintain its own identity. Constitutional and legislative guarantees are provided for the Anglo-Indians to maintain their schools and retain English as the medium of language. There is nevertheless significant societal pressure on Anglo-Indians to assimilate within mainstream Indian society: members of the community view their choices as being limited to assimilation or migrate to countries of their ancestors.