Tragic orphans

Carl Vadivella Belle

In 1938, noting that the bulk of the Indian population formed a ‰ÛÏlandless proletariat‰Û and despairing of the ability of the factionalized Indian community to unite in pursuit of common objectives, activist K.A. Neelakanda Ayer forecast that the fate of Indians in Malaya would be to become ‰ÛÏTragic orphans ‰ÛÒ of whom India has forgotten and Malaya looks down upon with contempt‰Û. Ayer‰Ûas words continue to resonate; as a minority group in a nation dominated politically by colonially derived narrati...