Poll season glare on Chinatown problems – Times of India

Kolkata: While an holds new promises for some, it also comes with a grim reminder of years of disappointment for some others.
The Chinese in Kolkata, who have adopted the city as their home for generations, claim discrimination, lack of opportunities and neglect from governments of all colours were the reasons behind the unfulfilled dream of the community’s integration with the rest of the population. Absence of employment or favourable policies for the youth had forced the younger generations to move out of the city and even country for better life, they pointed out. A steady exodus in the past few decades has shrunk the community size from 1,00,000-1,20,000 in the 1950s to merely 2,000-2,500 now.
“The Chinese youths are getting good opportunities in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the US and UAE. In India, there is hardly employment and business opportunities for Indians. We Chinese don’t stand much chance. It is painful for us to see our children leave but we can’t deny them a better life,” said Liu Yan Chen (68), a member of Tangra Welfare Society. Tangra—one of the oldest Chinatowns in the world—which falls in the Kasba constituency, will vote on Saturday. “I will cast my vote like always. The civic infrastructure has improved, and the neighbourhood is more secure now. But these are basics and our children need favourable policies and better opportunities,” said Chen.
In the 1770s, Chinese merchants from Guangdong Province settled down in Kolkata and set up sugar plantations on land granted by the East India Company. Kolkata’s Chinese population surged in the 1940s and 50s as affluent Hakka immigrants acquired and built tanneries in Tangra. Chinatown came up around the tanneries and gradually grew into an integral part of the city, offering the best restaurants in town. The tanneries, which once lined the “township”, have since been moved to Bantala and luxurious condos have come up in those places. Chinese faces are fast disappearing at the markets, tea-shops and clubs in the neighbourhood but politicians keep trying to woo the community as is evident from the graffiti in Chinese.
In the early ’60s, several Chinese were taken to prison in Deoli, Rajasthan, on suspicion of being spies after the India-China war. Monica Liu, the “Mandarin matriarch” and owner of popular eateries, was a child at that time. “The fear of a repetition of such accusations started off the exodus,” said Liu, who have stayed back. But her children and grandchildren have all migrated. “We have to think about our security, too,” said Chu Yu Ming, a beautician in Tangra, remembering the discontent against the Chinese in Kolkata after border skirmishes between India and China in Ladakh’s Galwan valley last year.
Chen at times dreams of working on a museum, showcasing Chinese history and their contribution to the city. “But I change my mind. If there is no effort from the authorities for the people, who will look after the museum?” he said.