the ANGLO - INDIAN, COMMUNIIY "Let Us Cling and Cling Tenaciously to All That We Hold Dear, Our 'Lan BRITAIN's BETRAYAL in INDIA Departm'ent, '
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, , . ,,, i\JQ~ILbe7" tS..19611 ,'. AHAJ Y A "'~3 BOOK REVIEWS;' Anglo~lndiari Assodation in' Septemoer '1942, he said; . THE ANGLO - INDIAN, COMMUNIIY "Let us cling and cling tenaciously to all that we hold dear, our 'lan BRITAIN'S BETRAYAL IN INDIA departm'ent, '. in the development of the guage, our way of life and our': 'is FRANK ANTHONY Indian 'Railways and Iridia's Post [,nd tinctive 'culture. But let us always Telegraph systems and in its Customs Ailied Publishers, Bombay remember that we are Indians. rhe 'depadment. Its performance in oilier community is Indian. It has always Price: Rs 30 fields also has been impressive. been Indian. Above all, it has an' This book is an original work con During the ' British period in India, inalienable Indian birthright. '1 he taining a fairly elaborate account of the the cOInmunity naturally enjoyed some more we love and are loyal to India, origin and growth of the Anglo-Indian special constitutional privileges. Among the more will India love us and be community in India, A more compe them were: (i) some, representation in loyal to us." ' tent person than Mr Frank· Anthony the Central and Provincial Legislatures Since then he has , always held :.nd cannot be thought of for wdting such of India by nomination by the Govern repeatedly expressed these sentiments. a book. ment; (ii) the reservation of some When in 1946' the British Cabinet At the outset the author discusses appointments for them in the Railways, Mission made its final .prCJ!losals for' the the question "Who is an Anglo P & T and Customs services, which its independence of India, it macre no Indian?" and refers to the .definition members had been greatly responsible mention of safeguards for ihe Anglo of the terITI in Act 366. (2) of the for . developing; and, (iii) some special Indians. Mr Frank Anthony had to Constitution of India which says; educational grants for their schook . make tireless efforts for getting them "An 'Anglo-Indian' means a per This book details the strenuous efforts recognized and he finally succeeded in son whose father or any of whose of the leaders of the community to his efforts. He attributed his success other male progenitors in the male obtain these concessions from the Bri to the strength derived by him from the line is or was of European descent tish. One of the most distinguished of unity of the community behind him. but who is domiciled within the such leaders was Mr John William He writes; "The supreme ' lesson of territOly of India and is or was born Ricketts, who, in December 1829, went those critical days was' the lesson of uur within such territory of parents habi to England to present a petition to su1'vivd because, of our . unitlJ through tually resident therein and not estab 'Parliament, gave evidence before the the Ass02iation which,made it possible lished ,there for temporary purPoses committees of the Lords and the 00m for it to 'recover 'for its members as only." mons and interviewed many influential well as for the members of the commu' It will be noted that this definition does , British politicians of the time. I'his ,nity advantages which in· the words ot not make it necessary either that a J.'lale . petition to Parliament is ch~ime(l to The Christian Democrat at the time an2estor should ,have been English have ,resulted in the provision of the were unparalleled in the history of (Anglo) or that there should have !Jeen Charter Act of 1833 which n,ccepted like assodations ill' India." Mr Anthony an admixture of Indian blood in the the eligibility, irrespective of birth or has also paid a tribute to the leaders ancestry. , co!om, of' all Indians to appointments of the Indian' National' Cong~ess for According to the author "the com~ in the servi2e of the East India Com~ their democratic spirit and' sense of munity has developed along quite for pany. sir Henry Gidney was another ju:tice in continuing to uphold the safe mal and legitimate lines". It was ,lbout . leader of, the community who did guards to his community . the beginning of the 17th century' that yeoman service to it from 1920 to 1942. Great as the efforts of Frank Anthony the British began to come to India as He was a reputed member of the were for obtaining these safeguards' for traders. At first, British women ,avail· medical profession, was a nomir,ate,j his community,his tireless efforts' for ahle for m'lrriage with them were few ,member of the Central Assembly at retaining the English language as a link and therefore Britons who came !:o Delhi, and was a zealous guardian of lan:cuage in . India.· ,have . heen even India began to cultivate the s02iety rf the rights of his community. He greater and have ,extorted the admira the Portuguese and French women tI,en represent'~d the. community at the tion apd gratitude of ,the non-Hindi mi'lions of India. He is convinced in India. Later the Court of Directorg Round Tahle Conferences of 1930 and, , , of the East India Company adoi'ted 19,31 whhh were convened in London that if English ceases to be a link lan the policy of encouraging th"'ir humb for the purpose of forging a ,lew guage among us ,"all semblance of ler servants in India to marry Indian constitution for India. There (in his na'ional integration will disappear in women and make Indi'! their home. In own words) he tried his hest "to emme India and India will represent merely pursuance of this policy, 'the Directors that a ref01med India should not result a geographical description". The offen en~ouraged such inter-racial marriages in a def01med Anglo-India". On the sive language often used by the Hindi by paying a pagoda (equal to live death of S,ir Henry Gidney in 1942, his protai!oni~t~ against the advocates of nlpees) to every Indian wom'ln married mantle, of leader<·hip of the (;()mmunity Engli~h have hurt and embittered him, to a Briton for every child born' of fell on the shoulders of Frank Anthony, as it has hurt and embittered the ft'el such m'lrri1ge. When, the community, the author. , In that very year he was in,!!s of most non-Hindi people. He in course of time, !!Tew in numbers.' it nominated as a memher of the Legis said that they were· imperviou~ to facts, became strictly endorramous. Thus. in, lative Assemhly at Delhi and since then logic and considerations of the conn its origin,' the community was an official he has continued to be' a member of try's unity and progress. He, refuted creation and a legitimate one. the Central LegHature at Delhi. the oft-paraded theory that 42 per cent At nres""nt, the community in India By 19 t2, the agitation for Tndian of the pP01)~e of India 'w;"re Hindi and is a homogen'eous one of a hout two to Irirl'lnendence u'1der the leadership of shpwed that it was a deliherate Lthd thrpe lakhs of peonle, entirely Christim Mahatma G1nclhi had become very cation, He _declared' ,that "Em,;lish without any cast'l rlistindions., , Jts strom!; and Frank Anthony knew that has hecome the. wamii'iid Woof of the mother-tomme is Englloh. It is Thus in the past his community had not texture of India's'thou<!ht; education bo'h a relirrious and a linguistic mino always supported the . Indian lead~rs and culture", and seriously' warned ,the ritv in India. It is literate cent per against the British. In his very first Government at the Centre, that "if from cent. It~ memh~rs have rendered puhlic address at the 'annual general motives of poltt~cal opportunism ·or' great services to India in the military meeting of the Bombay Branch of the .heer moral Mwardicp. ,it snccllmhs to .