Citizenship renouncers are the new colonials. Call them ‘Desi’ colonials

For the last few years, we have these neo-colonials or ‘Desi’ colonials, surrendering their Indian passports in droves as India does not allow dual citizenship. (Representative image)

Irrespective of what all colonialism does, or does not, the most devastating thing that happens to a colonised country is that its resources are depleted to the extent that it borders on plunder. India, indisputably, happens to be one of the classic cases of having bled to a high degree due to the avarice of the British. The kind of exploitation that occurred in India has been multi-dimensional and multi-hued, wherein the colonisers filled their coffers to please and enrich their royalty, king, queen and the crown.

During colonialism, and even after the independence of the former colonies, a different kind of exploitative process was in place whereby chunks of humans from the colonies were ‘recruited’ at low wages for underclass jobs in the ammunition factories, textile mills, railways and road transport, in the mother country of the colonials, not to talk of the other forms of ‘recruitment’ as slaves and indenture labour for other colonies.

The Loot

The entire colonial project, simply put, was to extract resources and they did that with elan irrespective of whether it was the British, the Danes, the Dutch, the Italians or the Portuguese. Raw materials, forest resources, minerals, gold, silver and diamonds (shamelessly, the British, even today, have the gall and temerity to adorn their crown with the Koh-i-noor diamond!).

Have there been, or will there ever be, any reparations? Forget it. Any apologies for the mass killings like the ones at Jallianwala Bagh or atrocities committed against the slaves or indentured labour? No, they do not have the strength of character to be brave enough to apologise and express regret for sins of crime committed.

The above account has been, in brief, colonialism that is familiar to all irrespective of whether they were the oppressors and perpetrators or those who were at the receiving end.

Desi Colonials

Could there be another form of ‘colonialism’? A version wherein it is not the foreigners that ‘extract’ resources but the job is done by those who have been born, bred, educated, and given all facilities, often by depriving such privileges to many of their own fellow country-dwellers? And, then like the colonials of the era of colonialism, they leave the borders of their motherland and forsake the country of their birth not just by migrating overseas but also by renouncing their citizenship. Let us say a ‘native’ version of colonialism and colonials. So, for the last few years, we have these neo-colonials or ‘Desi’ colonials, surrendering their Indian passports in droves as India does not allow dual citizenship.

As per the government of India data, since 2011 over 16 lakh Indians have given up their citizenship; this includes 2,25,620 during 2022, the highest during the period.

These are the ones who have enjoyed the best of everything in the country – highly subsidised, if not totally free, education all through their schooling and college years, high-grade training in the top institutions, going abroad, often with State support and scholarships, ostensibly for higher education, finding jobs there, staying back and applying for green (or whatever colour) card. So far so good (or so bad). But the disconcerting part is renouncing their citizenship.

The government of India extends a certain facility, and many do obtain an OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) card to exhibit their patriotism. But the most inappropriate, and completely misleading fact is, how anyone who does not hold an Indian passport be called an overseas citizen of India? Or the other interpretation could be that the said individual is an overseas citizen, that is, a citizen of another country; in such a case why tag on India there? An overseas citizen is an overseas citizen. Period. There are billions of overseas citizens; we do not tag India to them. It is time India modifies the acronym to OCIO in which case the acronym will read Overseas Citizen of Indian Origin.

Resource Drain

The colonials did not have any scruples about who they were and their identity; they were outsiders, expats, who were here to glean away the riches of India and never ever flinched from doing so. They never expressed any ‘crocodile’ patriotism (like the proverbial tears). But the citizenship renouncers obtained Indian passports as avowed patriotic citizens and then opted for the dollar/euro/pound passports without any compunctions. Which kind of resource drainage is worse? That of the erstwhile colonials or of the present-day patriotic ‘Desi’ colonials?

Though we may not have precise disaggregated data as regards the caste/community/religion of the exodees who renounced their citizenship, is that something that Indians need to think about twice in order to understand the intricacies of the matter? Those who go to the top institutions in India are from the upper classes which invariably means the upper castes. For them, the mother-democracy that pushed and propped them up and enabled them to go abroad in the first place is now giving way to the adopted sister- or daughter democracy (if at all the moniker democracy could be used in the latter contexts).

Nary a word of anguish or criticism will come forth from these souls as regards the discrimination and racism that prevails in the country of their adoption. The lustre of the dollar/euro/pound dims their perception as regards racism/discrimination around them, particularly of the Blacks, Hispanics or other minorities. But many among them do overzealously endorse the spread of hatred, persecution of minorities or the communal riots that occur in India. They tend to ‘identify’ themselves with the Whites and claims of the ‘model minority’ kind are constantly made. Needless to say, ‘Desi’ colonials seem to qualify themselves as the ‘Hindu White’ in the overseas context.

There are three kinds of people among those who have left the shores of the country; they are, namely, the non-resident Indians (NRIs), the OCIs, and those who are neither. In journalistic and layperson’s parlance, all of them are referred to as NRIs, which is incorrect. Only those who possess an Indian passport and have been away from the country for at least 182 days are NRIs. The Nobel Laureate economist, Professor Amartya Sen, is one of them, although he has spent a significantly major part of his life overseas (currently at Harvard University). He is truly an overseas citizen of India.

MA Kalam, a social anthropologist, is Visiting Professor, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.