Anglo Indians

The people who are residing in India, but whose male ancestors are from Europe. During the 18^th to 19^th  century, many European people came to India and settled here and started working in India and also they started marrying Indians. Those people are named Anglo Indians. Indian constitution has kept an article 366(2) to provide the necessary rights to Anglo Indians to parliament. Usually, the Indian President will select two people from Anglo Indian community and appoint them as Lok Sabha members. 

This article will give you detailed information about the anglo Indians and what rights do they have in the parliament in detail. 

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Who Is Known As Anglo Indian? 

Still, now, the Indian Government did not take any survey about the number of Anglo Indias residing in India. On average, about 125,000-150,000 Anglo Indians are living in India. The majority of the population was located in Kolkata and West Bengal. The mother tongue of Anglo Indians is English and they are the unique followers of Christianity. According to Article 366(2) of the Indian Constitution, the people who are resident in India from other countries and whose father or any other male ancestor is of European descent are considered as the Anglo Indians. The term Anglo Indian is mainly used to specify the British people who are living in India or the British people who have Indian origin. 

As per the Government of India Act 1935, the term Anglo Indian refers to the people, whose father or any other male progenitors in their family history was European. But those people are also native residents of India.  

Anglo Indians are started to arrive in India when the British government laid the railway tracks and telephone lines in India. To lay railway tracks and telephone lines in India, the British government (the East Indian company) invited European people to travel to India and encouraged them to marry people from India and settle in India. So, most of the Anglo Indian families in India were working in the Indian Railways and many Anglo Indians still have many openings in Railways so they are called themselves as ‘Railway Children’.

During the British rule, Anglo Indians hold the officers’ position in postal service, custom service, telegraph service, civil, military, and marine services, etc. All these helped them to settle in India and to maintain a comfortable life in India. Even the British populations are leftover in Bangladesh and Srilanka in the name of  Anglo-Burmese and Anglo Sri Lankan populations. 

All India Anglo Indian Association

In 1876, all the Anglo Indians from India have formed a community and named the All India Anglo Indian Association. The president of the All Indian Anglo Indian Association was Frank Anthon, who was born in Jabalpur, and later he became a member of the constituent assembly by adding the constitution.  Through Article 331, Frank Anthony was nominated and became a Member of Parliament 7 times. 

Anglo Indians In Parliament And Legislative Assembly

As of April 2019, the Indian government has formed the 17th Lok Sabha with 552 members. Usually, Lok Sabha has 552 seats, in that 530 seats are allotted to the states, 20 seats are reserved for union territories and 2 seats are allotted to the Anglo Indians. In 552 seats, only 543 seats were filled through the election, specifically, only 530 seats are filled through the election conducted in states and 13 seats were filled through the election conducted in Union territories. The member for the 2 Anglo Indians seats will be appointed on the recommendation of the President of India.

Anglo Indians During India’s Independence 

While India was struggling to get independence from India, the All India Anglo Indian Association was created and it was headed by Frank Anthony. Also, Anglo Indians opposed the partition of India and also stood against racial discrimination in India. During the independence movement in India, As the anglo Indians have English ancestry, Indians thought that Anglo Indians are loyal to the British government. So, anglo Indians felt more insecure about their lives in India and they were confused about their social acceptance. Bhowani Junction explained all the identity crises faced by the Anglo-Indian community, especially during India’s independence movement in the 20th century. So, they requested the government to provide important government positions to secure their lives.  

After India’s Independence, many Anglo Indians left India and thought to create a new life in the United Kingdom or any other British commonwealth countries like Canada or Australia. Till the end of the 1950s and 1960s, many Anglo Indians left India for various reasons. Even during the late 1990s, many Anglo Indians left India for various reasons. The emigrated Anglo Indians are settled in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand and started their life as non-resident Indians. Also, the Government of India took initiatives to make necessary facilities to ensure the life of Anglo Indians in India. Every year, the Government of India is celebrating the 02nd of August as World Anglo Indian Day. 

Role Of Anglo Indians In Parliament 

Initially, the Prime Minister of India and the president of all India Anglo Indian Association combined together and decided to reserve seats for Anglo Indians in parliament and state legislative assemblies. Anglo-Indian community in India have their representatives in the Parliament and state legislative assemblies.  The parliament and state legislatures assemblies are also creating a special reservation for Anglo Indians for making necessary facilities in India. If no Anglo-Indian people got a seat from the total 543 seats, then the President of India will elect two people and send them to Lok Sabha under Article 331. Under the Indian constitution Article 333, the governor also has a right to elect 1 Anglo Indian, if no anglo Indian is elected in the legislative assembly. Further, the elected member will enter into the legislative assembly. 

As per the 10th schedule of the Indian Constitution, all Anglo Indians can join any political party within six months to represent them to the house.  After becoming a member of the political party, they can start their work in the house for the party.   Even the members nominated by the President of India and the Governor have the same rights and power as all other members of the house, but the Anglo Indian who was nominated by the president cannot participate in the presidential election. Only the person who is elected through the people and became a member of the house can take part in the presidential election. 

Still now, Derek O'Brien was the only Anglo Indian, who got eligibility to appear for the presidential election as he was a member of parliament of the Trinamool Congres political party. 

Now, Lok Sabha has 2 Anglo Indians as members of Parliament and both people are from the Bharatiya Janata Party. George Baker from West Bengal and Richard hay from Kerala are the two current MPs elected by the president of India. 

Also, Indian Governments has provided rights to Anglo Indians to maintain their own medium of education to promote their English language. Also, they have the right to stay move anywhere in India without any restrictions like Indian citizens. 

A country like India has rich cultural diversity. Here, the people from every society will choose their a person and send to the house of parliament mainly to protect their rights and enhance their living standard in the country. That’s why the Indian government has decided to provide reservations for the Anglo-Indian community in the parliament of India. Through that, the Indian government is providing reservations for Anglo Indians since 1951, they can represent the people of their community and they can list the difficulties faced by them in India. This article provided the details about who are the anglo Indians and what rights do they have in the parliament.