In response to my previous posting, a friend remarked " but, Indians are xenophobic". Upon questioning him on the basis for his rather sweeping statement, he said it was based on a report that he had read in some newspaper, where some Chinese immigrants in India claimed that they were discriminated against by the local populace. Possible, but on the basis of the evidence presented can hardly warrant a statement that indicts a billion people.
Anyway, my initial reaction was, this is BS. But, on giving it more thought I did think it was possible. Of course, I would not go so far as to call them Xenophobic, but most definitely I can understand Indians being wary and skeptical of foreigners and outsiders. Let me try and elaborate why I would think as such. For this purpose, I am merely going to depend on my memory to help me with some details; if there are any factual inaccuracies they would be my own doing, so please provide your corrections, if any, using the comment section below.
India, like China is a "civilization-state". One of the world's oldest civilization, that in the 20th century went on to become a nation state after winning its independence from the British in 1947. It has a rich history from which one can draw some insights into the behaviour of its people.
The earliest documented interactions of the Indic people with "foreigners" was during the times of the Chandragupta Mauraya. Megasthenes, a Greek traveller and scholar spent some a few years in Chandragupta's court. It is from his book "Indica" that we learn a lot about that period ( For all the trivia buffs out there- the Tata car "Indica" derives it's name from this very book.). This book documents the cultural exchanges and also the trade between the Indians and Greeks. Needless to say there seemed to be no signs of xenophobia then.
Moving ahead, during the reign of Harsha Vardhana, several Chinese travellers visited and lived in present day India. Most notable among them were Hieun-Tsang and Fahien. ( It is quite possible they were not contemproraries, so I could be mistaken). From the accounts of HieunTsang and Fahien it can be seen that there was extensive trade between present day China and India. It was around the same time that Nalanda University became the fountainhead of learning and it is widely believed that students from all over the world came here for learning. This too we learn from the accounts of HieunTsang and Fahien.
Xenophobic, I don't think so.
Another example would be the silk trade with Arabia through the old silk route via the Khyber pass. The presence of Arabian traders did not seem to create any xenophobic feelings; or so it seems. Similarly in the south, the Chola empire under Raja Raja Chola conducted extensive trade with the present day South East asian countries. He, later went on to conquer present day Malaysia, Sinagapore and Sri Lanka thus making him the first Indian king to develop a navy (This point is yet again provided for the consumption of trivia buffs.). Yet again, there seems to be no indication of xenophobia.
It was the time period after the discovery of the sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, that I believe the attitudes of Indians may have begun to change. Bear in mind that when Vasco da Gama first arrived he was treated with utmost respect. The Portugese who intially came as traders later when on to colonize parts of India. This, I suspect may have been the beginning of the wariness and skepticism towards "foreigners". The Portugese were welcomed with open arms by the local people but eventually their trust was betrayed. They not only coloonized them, but also tried to impose their religion and culture on these very people that had treated them so well. So much for "Athithi devo Bava".
Similarly the British and the French came as traders. Remember Thomas Rowe in Jahangir's court ? Better still, how about Robert Clive ? Yet again, the trust was betrayed and they went on to colonize portions of India, with the British colonizing most of it. So much so that India went on to be called the "Crown Jewel of the British Empire". Trust was broken- plain and simple.
In light of the above facts, I ask, why would the Indians not be skeptical and wary of foreigners. I still do not believe they are in anyway xenophobic. It's easy for one to say, get over it or move on. But, the wounds are still fresh in our minds. It was only 56 years ago that we won our freedom. It takes time for these wounds to heal and for the trust to be re-established.
Finally, my friend chose the example of Chinese immigrants who were discriminated against by the local Indian populace. By no means am I justifying this incident or incidents if it ever happened. China betrayed India's trust, more specifically Nehru's trust, when they invaded India in 1962. Remember the Non-aligned moment (NAM); the sloganeering, "Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai". So, is it possible that the local populace were distrustful of the motives of their Chinese brethern? Can we at least give them a fair hearing before pronouncing them guilty? Have we forgotten what the US government did to Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor ? At least, the Indian government did not indulge in such reprehensible acts. Not that their track record is exactly impeccable but more on that later.
In conclusion, let me add that I am not justifying the skepticism and wariness of Indians towards foreigners but merely trying to understand the reasons behind such feelings. In fact, my desire would be that they become as open as they were in the times gone by. At the same time, this definitely is a rebuttal to the sweeping statement of my friend, "Indians are xenophobic".
What is the preferred destination for someone seeking better opportunities, especially if they are South east Asians ? Your obvious answer would be the USA. What if I told you, No. Your next guess would probably be a western European country; maybe even China these days.
Now, what if I said that you were wrong yet again, and went on to add that it was Tamil Nadu, India. Your reaction would probably be one of shock and disbelief. Personally, I would not be surprised by your reaction. In fact my reaction was just the same when I read this article in the The Straits Times.
Mr James Tay, 48; Mr Badis Said, 40; Mr Ong Yew Kok, 38; and 52-year-old Mr Yong all hail from the town of Thiruvallur 70km from Chennai in Tamil Nadu. They were originally from Singapore which is to the east of India, so in some sense they really did go west like most people. Read on and shock yourself.