GUWAHATI, Oct 23 � The Indian Chinese, through their Association of India Deoli Camp Internees (1962), have made an appeal to the Government of India for erection of a monument at the site of the Deoli Internment Camp in Rajasthan, where the Indian Chinese were kept interned during the 1962 Indo-China War, �as an acknowledgement of the persecution of the ethnic Chinese�. Significantly, this development has a strong Assam connection.
In a letter to the Prime Minister of India, the association said that the after the Indo-China War started, the victimization of the ethnic Chinese culminated in the uprooting of �more than 3,000 innocent individuals and families from their home by the end of 1962�. They were confined behind the barbed wires of the Deoli camp simply because of their belonging to the ethnic Chinese community.
�In addition to losing their freedom and liberties, many individuals endured undue mental and physical suffering and lost their lives.
�November 2012 will be the 50th anniversary of the unfortunate event. To mark the occasion, the surviving inmates of the Deoli Internment Camp, their descendents and their families strongly feel that a monument should be erected in memory of the ethnic Chinese who lost their lives in the camp,� said the association in its letter to the Prime Minister.
The association hopes that the monument would be able to honour those who lost their freedom and lives during their captivity. This would also remind today�s citizens �of the value and meaning of human rights, civil liberties and social justice�, said the association.
It needs mention here that the association is a non-profit organization registered in Canada in accordance with the �Ontario Corporations Act�.
The plight of the ethnic Chinese people was first brought to light by noted Assamese fiction writer Rita Choudhury through her novel Makam. Many of the ethnic Chinese families were the residents of the Upper Assam town of Makum and adjacent areas.
They were the descendents of the tea garden workers brought to Assam by the Britishers around 1830. They were shifted to Deoli Internment Camp in a barbaric manner and in a seven-day fatiguing rail journey, like enemies.
Many of these families had their own business and they were on a process of being assimilated with the locals. They were almost becoming an inseparable part of the indigenous society when the tragedy struck. Some of such ill-fated families belonged to some other parts of the country too.
Many of the elderly people of this community died while on their way to Deoli and after reaching Deoli many of the survivors were deported to China. After the war hysteria was over, the survivors of these people returned to their native places. And at Makum and adjacent areas, they found that their property were either attached as enemy property or occupied by some other people. They were treated as �Dirty Chinese�.
Now the people of the community are spread over in many countries of the world, besides India. The persecution of those days has left a deep mark on their minds and in the blog of the Indian Chinese Association, they have included some write ups on Makam.
It is also reported by a section of the print media that the Government of India has been mulling an amendment to �The Enemy Property Act, 1968 through The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Second Bill, 2010.� The Bill is likely to be introduced in the winter session of the Parliament commencing from November 9 next. The Bill has reportedly said, among others, that �the enemy property could be divested only to the owner or his lawful heir.�
Makam has by this time become a household name among the members of the Indian Chinese community living in India, Hong Kong and North America, said Harry Shaw, general secretary of the Association of India Deoli Camp Internees (1962) in a letter to the novel�s author.
