Hyd Anglo-Indians seek Minority status, representation in Parliament

Hyderabad: On World Anglo-Indian Day, Federation of Anglo-Indian Associations (FAIAI) and its constituent Anglo-Indian organisations urged the government to address various issues they are facing. They urged the government to declare Anglo-Indians a separate "Ethnic and Linguistic Minority."

"We feel sad that the community is denied representation in the Parliament and state Legislatures. We hope the government will reverse this," said Tyrron Whyte (46), the editor of an online literary magazine.

The New Anglo Community (NAC) strongly feels that the Anglo-Indians are being denied opportunities to protect their identity and culture as stipulated in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious, and Linguistic Minorities adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 1992.

World Anglo-Indian Day is celebrated on 2 August to commemorate the official naming of the Anglo-Indian community which was approved by the British in the Government of India Act on this day in 1935.

Unfair political representation

Malcom Wolfe, the chairman of NAC, said, "We are a peace-loving, hard-working community who constantly contribute to this nation. The only community that has the word 'Indian' in their name."

He said the government's approach towards Minorities is unfair. "The denial of representation to Anglo-Indians in the Parliament and in state Legislatures by the 126th Constitutional Amendment Bill 2019 was a glaring injustice," he said and added that it was unfair that a community with a strength of 4 lakhs spread all over the country was counted as just 296 in number based on erroneous Census Data of 2011.

"This must be looked into and the government has to restore the representation of Anglo-Indians in Parliament and state Legislatures," Mr. Wolfe added.

The Federation demanded that Anglo-Indians be included in the list of Minorities under the National Commission of Minorities by amending the Act. They also requested that the report of a study conducted by the ministry of Minority Affairs in 2013 on Anglo-Indians be uploaded on the ministry website for the consideration of government agencies.

"The problems related to the Anglo-Indian community are complex. The study conducted by the ministry of Minority Affairs in 2013 revealed several of the community's problems. A detailed study with suggestions for remedial measures is to be found. As such, we request that the government consider constituting an Anglo-Indian Commission as stipulated in Article 338 (10)," Tyrron said.

Lauren Scanlon (68), the President of NAC, said, "The NAC's special focus is on providing help to the Anglo- Indian women, especially single women and widows, to ensure that they become self-reliant, financially strong, and a source of strength to their families through self-help programmes."

The Federation of Anglo-Indian Associations in India, while celebrating World Anglo-Indian Day, conducted meetings and demonstrations to highlight their "just demands." It requested the support of fellow citizens and the media to highlight the plight of the community and secure their demands.