MYSURU: With the Centre ending reservation for the Anglo-Indian community, citing the reason that there are just 296 families in the country, the people of this denomination feel they have been dumped, and for no valid reason.
“The Mysuru Anglo-Indian Association alone has 280 members and 50 non-members spread across Mysuru city. We were first betrayed by the British and now by the Indian government. We stayed back and wanted to be Indians. There is no community that has Indian attached to it, other than Anglo-Indians. We are pan-Indians. How many leaders sitting in Parliament, passing bills, have not studied in Anglo-Indian schools?” asks Charles Lewis, honorary secretary of the Anglo-Indian Association.
President of the All India Anglo-Indian Association, Bengaluru branch, Clive Van Buerle said that the requisite research has not been carried out, and the Bill passed based on wrong figures tabled by Union Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad.
The National Committee, with 63 branches, will decide on the next course of agitation and also knock on the doors of the Supreme Court, as the Anglo-Indian community is spread across the country and needs representation in democratic institutions, Van Buerle said. He observed that survey forms did not have a separate column for Anglo-Indians, and they were clubbed with Indian Christians.
Jennifer Anne Pereira, a progressive farmer, disputes the government figure, and claims that there are more than 3 lakh Anglo-Indians in the country. “They have passed the Bill with malafide intention, without checking the facts. They should conduct a census, and speak to the Anglo-Indian community before jumping to conclusions. Though there are many benefits like reservation in education and jobs, these never reached the community.
No government interfered with reservation for Anglo-Indians.”
Vinisha Nero (in pic), currently nominated MLA for a second term, focuses on betterment of the Anglo-Indian community and helps the Christian community. Nero is also on the Christian Welfare Board. The reservation issue will be taken up at the national level, Clive said.
The Anglo-Indian community is spread in Kolar Gold Fields, Mysuru, Hubballi, Bengaluru, Hosapete, Gadag, Bagalkote and even remote areas like Shivanasamudra. KGF had an Anglo-Indian Colony and an exclusive club, with hundreds of families working with the British in the gold mines. The Champion Reef, Robertsonpet, Coromandel and Oorgaum have Anglo-Indian families and also a school.