Yes, Nepalis from Nepal is a group not quite in the narrative of Indian authors or journalists. It is not easy to make a distinction between Nepalis of Indian origin and Nepalis of Nepali origin. For example, I have this friend who was born and brought up in Darjeeling, studied there and even got married to a Nepali there while working in North Bengal but now she says home is Kathmandu! I suppose most Nepalis living in India would have close ties and associations or even ancestral homes in Nepal. In that sense, they are the first claimants of dual citizenry. But this piece is not about my friends who can enjoy the privileges on either side. This is about the ‘crowd’.
According to the bilateral treaty of 1950 between India and Nepal, Nepalis and Indians can travel and work across the border and are to be treated at par with the native citizens. But that is not quite followed on the ground. I am not sure what happens in Nepal but at least in India Nepali migrant laborers do not enjoy citizenship benefits. They come as cheap labor to begin with.
I grew up in a part of India with Nepalis all around me. Most of the men were laborers and the women worked as domestic help. We knew them as Dajus and Kanchis and we loved them. I never felt the necessity of finding out where they came from because they were so much part of my everyday life. ‘Bahadur’ worked for us and I remember his delicious squash tarkari and rotis. Most of us knew a smattering of Nepali and their children were part of our locality cricket and football teams. India in the seventies and early eighties was probably more inclusive and less elitist.
Though Nepalis migrate to other countries, India continues to attract the majority. The 1991 Census of Nepal recorded that absentee population from Nepal toward India was 89.2 percent of the total migrants. 80 percent of Nepal’s population live in rural areas and are unskilled and lowly literate and for them India is the preferred destination. Therefore, remittances remain Nepal’s biggest earner and just less than half of rural Nepal’s remittance comes from India. A million Nepali laborers worked in India. That was late nineties.
Delhi alone has more than 20,000 Nepali watchmen but while they provide the most trusted security cover, they are not covered under any labor laws. They have no formal contract with their employers. They enjoy no labor benefits.
From the beginning of the next decade, more and more Nepalis spilled over as internally displaced people found refuge in Indian markets. There was one study from 2004, which indicated that 200 Nepalis were crossing the border every hour but there is no definitive account of this migration. There is no record of this ‘crowd’ of migrants who are meant to enjoy citizenship in the neighboring country as well. No record whatsoever to tell us where they come from, where they go, where they live or work. This journey into India and back is also fraught with human right violations and fears of human trafficking. I recall bus journeys from Guwahati to Shillong in India’s North East and even in the eighties. Each bus would be checked at a police post in Burnihaat and Nepali laborers would invariably be thrown out of the bus with their belongings. They would eventually manage to bribe through to reach their destination.
Given the ancient ties with India and a religious and linguistic affinity, even the recent migrants find it easy to ‘assimilate’. But probably difficult to ‘integrate’. At the same time, it is easier for a Nepali from Nepal to be accepted as an ‘Indian’ in cities like Delhi because of the linguistic familiarity as against a North Eastern from India who may have difficulty in feeling ‘Indian’. So, ‘identity’ blurs.
Most of the Nepali migrants in India work in restaurants or in factories or as watchmen. They are drivers , coal mine workers or porters. These are unorganized sectors. Almost every restaurant in Indian cities has Nepali workers and more than often they are children. The invisible population in this ‘crowd’, however, is the sex workers. In Mumbai, half of the women engaged in prostitution are trafficked from Nepal.
But the Bahadur ‘watchman’ stereotyped by Hindi films in the sixties and seventies still hold true in Indian cities. Delhi alone has more than 20,000 Nepali watchmen but while they provide the most trusted security cover, they are not covered under any labor laws. They have no formal contract with their employers. They enjoy no labor benefits. Most of the figures associated with this migration and work in unorganized sectors rely on data collected by non-governmental agencies and are prone to inaccuracy. So while some studies indicate that around 300,000 Nepali women and girls are engaged as sex workers, the number could be much higher. Similarly, the other sectors too have no accurate figures to help establish a case which should be of bilateral importance.
Stigmatized these laborers have low socio-economic status. They are exposed to gambling, alcohol abuse and multiple sex partners. They constitute a high risk group for HIV infection though HIV/AIDS campaigns have no mention of them. Their living conditions are abysmal.
So the ‘crowd’ melts in the India that is ‘inclusive’ but systematically excludes many sections of people based on socio-economic indicators, race and religion. This ‘crowd’ must be studied and their rights restored to them. Amongst the many forgotten issues between India and Nepal, this must be prioritized.
The writer is North-East Region Bureau Chief of NDTV, a leading Indian television news channel. On a sabbatical now, he is Senior Fellow at Institute of Defence Studies Analysis in New Delhi
kishalayb@gmail.com
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