CARIM INDIA SERIES DEVELOPING EVIDENCE BASED MANAGEMENT AND OPEraTIONS IN INDIA-EU MIGraTION AND PARTNERSHIP (DEMO: INDIA-EU MAP ) Media Report on the Indian Community in France Mathilde Lebrand DEMO-India Research Report 2015/07 EUI is Partner Institution of ICM for the DEMO-India Project Co-financed by the European Union DEMO-India Developing Evidence based Management and Operations in India-EU Migration and Partnership Research Report Thematic Report DEMO-India RR 2015/07 Media Report on the Indian Community in France Mathilde Lebrand PhD Researcher, EUI This text may be downloaded only for personal research purposes. Any additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copies or electronically, requires the consent of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. Requests should be addressed to [email protected] If cited or quoted, reference should be made as follows: Mathilde Lebrand, Media Report on the Indian Community in France, DEMO-India RR 2015/07, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, San Domenico di Fiesole (FI): European University Institute, 2015. The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and should not be considered as representative of the official position of the European Commission or of the European University Institute. © 2015, European University Institute ISBN: 978-92-9084-340-5 doi:10.2870/441849 Catalogue Number: QM-04-15-613-EN-N European University Institute Badia Fiesolana I – 50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) Italy http://www.eui.eu/RSCAS/Publications/ http://interact-project.eu/publications/ http://cadmus.eui.eu DEMO-India – Developing Evidence based Management and Operations in India-EU Migration and Partnership (DEMO: India-EU MaP) The Demo: India-EU MaP project, co-funded by the European Commission, is a continuation of the Carim India project (www.india-eu-migration.eu) and it examines the multiple facets of Indian migration to the EU. Its overall aim is to improve migration management between India and the EU, strengthen EU-India relations, and produce in-depth empirical knowledge about the different migration streams and pathways of Indian nationals in the EU. Its specific goals include providing: 1. Evidence based research for more informed policy making and state intervention. 2. Improved source country capacity in managing migration. 3. Raising awareness among potential migrants of the risks of irregular migration. 4. Collaboration with civil society groups. 5. Empirical research and analysis of Indian communities across the EU, and their impact. The project is led by the Indian Centre for Migration in Delhi with the partnership of the Migration Policy Centre, RSCAS, EUI. For more information: Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (EUI) Villa Malafrasca Via Boccaccio 151 50133 Florence Italy Tel: +39 055 46 85 817/892 Fax: + 39 055 46 85 755 Email: [email protected] Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies http://www.eui.eu/RSCAS/ Abstract France has, in Indian terms, a relatively small Indian community. This paper analyses the French media coverage of this community in recent years. Compared to other French communities, the Indian community is seen as discrete and it is not widely covered in the media: few articles having been written. These articles can be broken down into two sets: articles covering local events, with a focus on the community; and articles covering broader events that define relations between France and India. Several topics are detailed in the paper: higher education, business and investment, crime, culture, integration and religion. The two main themes in media coverage are: business opportunities between the two countries and religious tensions. Indian culture is little covered in the French press. This might be explained by historical factors, the small size and the relative (economic and integration) success of this community. Key words: Indian community, media, integration, investment, crime, religion Table of contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 7 1.2. Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 7 2. Higher education students and exchanges ........................................................................................... 8 2.1. Attracting Indian students to France ...................................................................................... 8 2.2. The difficulties of Indian students .......................................................................................... 8 3. Business and investment ................................................................................................................... 10 3.1. Indian investments in France ............................................................................................... 10 3.2. French businessmen in India ................................................................................................ 12 4. Crimes and the Indian community .................................................................................................... 13 5. Culture ............................................................................................................................................... 13 5.1. Bollywood ............................................................................................................................ 13 5.2. Books ................................................................................................................................... 14 5.3. Music .................................................................................................................................... 15 5.4. Others ................................................................................................................................... 15 6. Integration initiatives ......................................................................................................................... 15 6.1. Analysis of the integration process ...................................................................................... 15 6.2. Local initiatives that target Indian immigrants .................................................................... 17 6.3. The Reunion Island, a special case ...................................................................................... 17 7. Religion ............................................................................................................................................. 18 7.1. Indian religions .................................................................................................................... 18 7.2. Indian religious festivals in France ...................................................................................... 20 7.3. Indian places of worship ...................................................................................................... 20 7.4. Controversies over Sikh religious symbols .......................................................................... 21 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 22 Newspaper sources ................................................................................................................................ 23 Appendix ............................................................................................................................................... 26 DEMO-India RR2015/07 1. Introduction The Indian diaspora has only recently been recognized in France. It is, unlike other Asian groups like the Chinese diaspora, small and diverse. The first migrations were linked to the colonial past of France and its outposts in India (Pondichery, Karikal, Yanaon, Mahe and Chandernagor). Thousands of families emigrated after France withdrew from India in the 1950s. Other political and economic events added to this migration process. For example, in the 1990s, thousands of Sikhs flew from India for political reasons. These different waves of migration established a complex and diverse Indian community in France. It is a small community compared to the Sub-Saharan African and North African communities, might partly explain its relative invisibility in the media. Another factor in its invisibility is successful integration. However, the ban on ethnic statistics in France makes it difficult to make precise estimates about minorities in France. This paper analyses French media coverage of the Indian community in the last four years. Several topics are covered: higher education; business and investment; crime; culture; integration; and religion. Compared to other communities, the Indian community is seen as discrete and is little covered by the media. The articles we have break down into to: ones on the community in France; and articles covering the political and economic relation between France and India. Local newspapers tend to report news about the Indian community only in Paris and its suburbs, where most of the community is based. General and national newspapers develop broad topics about business relations between the two countries, main cultural differences and discussions about the notion of laicism. All have a focus on France and its own (economic and religious) tensions. In this study, it appears that two main types of events have been widely covered: business opportunities