Subhamaykarjee at 18:20, 4 May 2026

2026-05-04T18:20:04Z

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{{NPOV language|date=April 2020}}
{{Short description|Mass incarceration in India during the Sino-Indian War}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2019}}
The '''internment of Chinese Indians''' was the forced relocation and incarceration of 3,000 [[Chinese people in India|Chinese Indians]] in an [[internment]] camp in [[Deoli, Rajasthan|Deoli]], [[Rajasthan]] during [[Sino-Indian War]] in 1962.<ref>{{cite news |last=Engineer |first=Tariq |date=3 February 2020 |title=Every country does well by confronting its history |url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/others/things-to-do/every-country-does-well-by-confronting-its-history/articleshow/73882402.cms |newspaper=[[Mumbai Mirror]] |access-date=16 April 2020}}</ref> They were detained without trial as per the [[Defence of India Act, 1962]].<ref>{{cite act |date=12 December 1962 |title=The Defence of India Act, 1962 |url=https://lddashboard.legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A1962-51.pdf |number=51 |access-date=26 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829120206/https://lddashboard.legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A1962-51.pdf |archive-date=29 August 2023 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The internees were released in a phase by phase manner until the last internee was released in 1967. After the internment, many Chinese Indians (Indians with Chinese ancestry) were resettled with equal rights, and some were deported or coerced to leave India.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Chatterjee |editor-first1=Nilanjana |editor-last2=Chatterjee |editor-first2=Anindita |year=2020 |title=Re-theorising the Indian Subcontinental Diaspora: Old and New Directions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rmgDEAAAQBAJ&q=deoli+deport+chinese+indians&pg=PA53 |location=Newcastle-upon-Tyne |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |pages=53 |isbn=978-1-5275-5951-6}}</ref> Nearly all internees had their properties sold off or looted.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Gupta |editor-first1=Amit R. Das |editor-last2=Lüthi |editor-first2=Lorenz M. |year=2017 |title=The Sino-Indian War of 1962: New Perspectives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yCElDwAAQBAJ&q=Those+released+from+jails+or+the+Deoli+Camp+found+their+properties+sold&pg=PA220 |location=London |publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |page=220 |isbn=978-1-138-69320-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Bhattacharya |editor-first1=Jayati |editor-last2=Kripalani |editor-first2=Coonoor |year=2015 |title=Indian and Chinese Immigrant Communities: Comparative Perspectives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dr7MBgAAQBAJ&q=deoli+chinese+indians+looted&pg=PA289 |location=London; New York |publisher=Anthem Press |page=289 |isbn=978-1-78308-362-6}}</ref>

Indian officials openly compare the internment of Chinese Indians with the [[internment of Japanese Americans]] during [[World War II]]. However, unlike the [[United States]], the Indian government has not apologised or offered compensation to the internees.<ref name="Abdi" />

==Background==
===Chinese community in India===
{{Main|Chinese people in India}}
The earliest recorded Chinese settlers in [[Company rule in India|British India]] arrived in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] in 1780.<ref name="Mazumdar">{{cite magazine |last=Mazumdar |first=Jaideep |date=2010-11-20 |title=The 1962 jailing of Chinese Indians |url=http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/the-1962-jailing-of-chinese-indians |magazine=[[Open (Indian magazine)|Open]] |access-date=2013-11-17}}</ref> Because of the long history of [[Chinese tea culture|tea cultivation in China]], the British colonial authorities attempted to lure experienced workers from China to work on the newly established tea plantations in [[Colonial Assam|Assam]], starting in 1838.<ref>{{cite news |last=Chowdhury |first=Rita |author-link=Rita Chowdhury |date=18 November 2012 |title=The Assamese Chinese story |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/the-assamese-chinese-story/article4106422.ece |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=26 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119203741/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/the-assamese-chinese-story/article4106422.ece |archive-date=19 November 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Other Chinese migrants were refugees from poverty, famine, and disasters in China. By the late 19th century, the people of Chinese origin had gained a reputation as craftsmen and traders in [[East India]]. During [[World War II]] and the [[Chinese Communist Revolution]], a large wave of Chinese war refugees settled in Calcutta, Northern [[Bengal]], and [[Northeast India]].<ref name="Mazumdar" /> By the end of World War II, the Chinese Indian population was estimated by the British colonial government to be 26,250.<ref>{{Cite web |last=D’Souza |first=Dilip |last2=Ma |first2=Joy |date=2020-07-07 |title=Forgotten history —When India put 3000 innocent Chinese-Indians in a camp due to 1962 war |url=https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/when-india-put-3000-innocent-chinese-indians-in-a-camp-due-to-1962-war/456023/ |access-date=2025-08-27 |website=ThePrint |language=en-US}}</ref> Estimates of the ethnic Chinese population in 1962 varied from 20,000 to 60,000.<ref name="Abdi">{{cite magazine |last=Abdi |first=S.N.M. |date=2012-10-22 |title=Without Apologies |url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?282589 |magazine=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]] |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013083359/http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?282589 |archive-date=2012-10-13 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===1962 Sino-Indian War===
{{Main|Sino-Indian War}}
Following the independence of the [[Republic of India]] in 1947 and the founding of the [[People's Republic of China]] in 1949, the two countries enjoyed a period of friendly relationship, despite having unresolved border disputes in the areas of [[North-East Frontier Agency|NEFA]] and [[Aksai Chin]]. The relationship deteriorated, however, after the construction of [[China National Highway 219|a Chinese highway]] in Aksai Chin in 1957, and India's support of the failed [[1959 Tibetan uprising]] against Chinese rule.<ref name="Calvin">{{cite report |last=Calvin |first =James Barnard |date=April 1984 |title=The China–India Border War (1962) |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1984/CJB.htm |publisher=Marine Corps Command and Staff College |access-date=2013-11-18 |via=[[GlobalSecurity.org]]}}</ref> The hostilities culminated in the brief 1962 Sino-Indian War, resulting in a Chinese victory but no change in the effective boundary between the two countries. The fighting lasted from 10 October to 20 November 1962.<ref name="Calvin" /> On 21 November, China declared ceasefire and withdrew from NEFA, the larger of the two disputed territories, but kept the smaller Aksai Chin.<ref name="Calvin" />

==Anti-Chinese sentiment==
After the outbreak of the war, the Indian government and some members of academia systematically portrayed the Chinese minority as untrustworthy and deceitful.<ref name="Banerjee">{{cite journal |last=Banerjee |first=Payal |date=December 2007 |title=Chinese Indians in Fire: Refractions of Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Citizenship in Post-Colonial India's Memories of the Sino-Indian War |url=https://indiachinainstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Banerjee-Chinese_Indians_in_Fire.pdf |journal=[[China Report]] |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=437–463 |doi=10.1177/000944550704300404 |s2cid=144452102 |access-date=2013-11-18}}</ref>{{rp|443}} The rising [[Indian nationalism|nationalism in India]] entailed assaults on the ethnic Chinese, including Indian citizens and residents who had lived in India for generations.<ref name="Banerjee" />{{rp|447}} Many Chinese schools and media were shut down, and people of Chinese descent were assaulted by mainstream Indians; their property, restaurants, and shops damaged.<ref name="Banerjee" />{{rp|447}}

The civil liberties of the ethnic Chinese were curtailed. People of Chinese descent were required to report to the authorities for "registration and classification", and it became harder for non-citizens to meet the residency requirements. The legal definition of foreigners was extended to include Indian citizens of Chinese descent.<ref name="Banerjee" />{{rp|446}}

Faced with widespread hostility, many Chinese Indians expressed their support and loyalty for the Indian cause, condemned the Chinese government, and donated to India's defence funds. However, their expressions of support were met with suspicion and contempt.<ref name="Banerjee" />{{rp|447}}

==Internment and deportation==
After the war, India passed the Defence of India Act in December 1962,<ref name="Mazumdar" /> permitting the "apprehension and detention in custody of any person [suspected] of being of hostile origin". The broad language of the act allowed for the arrest of any person simply for having a Chinese surname or a Chinese spouse.<ref name="Griffiths">{{cite magazine |last=Griffiths |first=James |date=2013-08-09 |title=India's Forgotten Chinese Internment Camp |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/08/indias-forgotten-chinese-internment-camp/278519/ |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=2013-11-17}}</ref> Under this law, 10,000 people of Chinese origin were estimated to have been detained from all over India, including Calcutta, [[Bombay]], [[Darjeeling]], [[Kalimpong]], [[Jamshedpur]], and the Northeast. All of them were accused of being spies, but not a single charge has ever been proven.<ref name="Mazumdar" /> The internment of Chinese Indians violated both the [[Constitution of India]] and the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]], to which India was an original signatory.<ref name="Griffiths" />

Starting in November 1962, many ethnic Chinese were given the order to leave India within a month.<ref name="Banerjee" />{{rp|447}} About 7,500 people complied and left for various parts of the world, including [[mainland China]], [[Taiwan]], [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], [[Pakistan]], [[Japan]], [[Australia]], the [[United Kingdom]], the United States, and [[Canada]].<ref name="Banerjee"/>{{rp|448}} People who could not raise travel expenses or were unwilling to leave were imprisoned.<ref name="Banerjee"/>{{rp|447}} While some were held in local prisons, thousands more were transported across India to the desert prison camp in [[Deoli, Rajasthan|Deoli]], [[Rajasthan]],<ref name="Griffiths" /> built by the colonial authorities in 1942 as a [[prisoner-of-war camp|POW camp]] for [[Japanese prisoners of war in World War II|Japanese]], German, and Italian [[prisoners of war in World War II|prisoners of war during World War II]].<ref name="Abdi" /> The camp housed 7,000 inmates,<ref name="Mazumdar" /> 60% of whom were children or elderly people.<ref name="Abdi" /> Many POWs, unaccustomed to the hot desert climate, died of [[heat stroke]] and related diseases.<ref name="Mazumdar" />

In 1964, the Deoli prison authorities announced that all internees would be deported to China. The forcible deportations were arbitrary, resulting in the breakup of many families. In many cases parents were separated from their children and never heard from them again.<ref name="Mazumdar" /> The deportations stopped after a few months, and the government offered the remaining inmates the option to migrate to China. Some took the offer, but about 2,500 chose to stay and wait for the chance to return home.<ref name="Mazumdar" />

In 1965, the Indian government began to release the internees. They were allowed to leave the camp in small batches. The last internees were released from Deoli in mid-1967, after four and half years of captivity.<ref name="Mazumdar" /> However, when the internees were transported to their old neighbourhoods, the local governments often did not know what to do with them and kept them in local prisons, in some cases for more than a year.<ref name="Griffiths" />

==Aftermath==
After the internees were freed after years of incarceration, many discovered that their properties had been sold off in their absence, but were only offered tiny sums for compensation. Almost all internees had their homes, shops, and factories plundered or taken over by locals.<ref name="Mazumdar" />

The Chinese population in Calcutta decreased by half, from 20,000 to 10,000. Those who remained were seen as enemies, and most could not hold any job except in the restaurant, tanning, and shoemaking businesses.<ref name="Sen">{{cite news |last=Sen |first=Tansen |date=2005-04-13 |title=Go for a Slight Change of Route |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050413/asp/opinion/story_4590518.asp |newspaper=[[The Telegraph (India)|The Telegraph]] |access-date=2013-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930060905/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050413/asp/opinion/story_4590518.asp |archive-date=30 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Moreover, their movements were restricted. Until the mid-1980s, the Chinese Indians were required to report to designated police stations once a month; until the mid-1990s, they had to apply for special permits to travel more than a few kilometres from their homes.<ref name="Mazumdar" />

==Reactions==
Indian officials openly compare the internment of Chinese Indians with the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. However, unlike the United States, the Indian government has refused to apologise or offer compensation to the internees for their incarceration.<ref name="Abdi" />

When asked about his opinion on the issue in 2008, [[Mao Siwei]], China's Consul General in Calcutta, replied that China would rather "look forward and not argue too much about the past".<ref name="Abdi" />

The Indian Chinese Association has been pressuring the Indian government to issue an apology, without success.<ref name="Abdi" /> The Association of India Deoli Camp Internees, a Canadian non-profit group, wrote two open letters to former [[Prime Minister of India]] [[Manmohan Singh]], but did not receive a reply.<ref name="Griffiths" />

In 2004, Rafeeq Ellias recounted the appalling treatment of the Chinese residents in Calcutta in the documentary film ''The Legend of Fat Mama''.<ref name="Sen" /> The documentary won the [[National Film Awards|Silver Lotus Award]] for best anthropological/ethnographic film at the [[52nd National Film Awards]].<ref>{{cite book |date=October 2005 |title=52nd National Film Awards |url=http://dff.nic.in/2011/52nd_nff_2005.pdf |publisher=[[Directorate of Film Festivals]] |access-date=2013-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193535/http://dff.nic.in/2011/52nd_nff_2005.pdf |archive-date=2013-10-29 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==

* {{Cite book |last=Ma |first=Joy |title=The Deoli Wallahs: The True Story of the 1962 Chinese-indian Internment |last2=D'Souza |first2=Dilip |date=2020 |publisher=Macmillan, an imprint of Pan Macmillan Publishing India Private Limited |isbn=978-93-89109-38-2 |location=New Delhi}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Mazumder |first=Abir L. |date=2024 |title=Becoming Foreigners in 1962: Tracing the History of Citizenship Rights of the Indian-Chinese |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01605976231190014 |journal=Humanity & Society |language=en |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=51–76 |doi=10.1177/01605976231190014 |issn=0160-5976}}<

==External links==
* {{YouTube|pQ2QJSHWOqQ|''The Legend of Fat Mama''}}
* [http://indiadeoli.wixsite.com/1962internment Association of India Deoli Camp Internees]
{{Anti-Chinese sentiment}}
{{China–India relations}}

[[Category:1962 in India]]
[[Category:Anti-Chinese legislation]]
[[Category:Anti-Chinese sentiment in Asia]]
[[Category:China–India relations]]
[[Category:Chinese diaspora in India]]
[[Category:Human rights abuses in India]]
[[Category:Internments]]
[[Category:Racism in India]]
[[Category:Sino-Indian War]]

Internment of Chinese Indians - Revision history

Subhamaykarjee at 18:20, 4 May 2026