Dr. Navniit Gandhi, well known academic, writer, author and a trainer based in Kuwait, recently represented the Indian Diaspora in Gulf and presented a paper in an International Conference on "Mahatma Gandhi and Indian Diaspora under European Rule and Later" organized by banaras Hindu University and Antar Rashtriya Sahayog Parishad (ARSP) on 23rd April 2022.

The two-day international conference was inaugurated by Prof. Santishree D. Pandit, Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The conference was organized in collaboration with Organisation for Diasporic Initiatives and supported by Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi.

Addressing the conference, Dr Navniit Gandhi presented the three dimensions of the Indian community residing in Kuwait. Deepika Nambiar from indiansinkuwait.com spoke with Dr Gandhi on her presentation and below are the excerpts from the chat:

IIK: Heartiest Congratulations, to you, Dr Navniit on your participation and paper presentation in an International Conference. What was this Conference all about and who had organized it?

Navniit: Thank you, Deepika for the appreciation. The International Conference was organized by the Dept of Political Science at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), jointly with the Antar Rashtriya Sahyog Parishad (ARSP), in collaboration with the Organization for Diaspora Initiatives (ODI), and was supported by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). It was held at the Banaras Hindu University campus on April 23rd and 24th. While I had sent an abstract and subsequently the paper, I could not go to deliver my lecture. I was invited to talk at the plenary session and made an online presentation.

IIK: What was the objective or the theme of the Conference?

NG: The objective was to understand the gradually changing experiences of Indians who live in foreign lands worldwide, beginning with what Mahatma Gandhi had experienced when he was in South Africa for nearly 31 years, and what we, the Indian diaspora, experience now. The discussion was not confined to just issues, but it was a comprehensive two-day discussion on experiences in the past; the impact of diasporic experiences on literature and economy and also on how complex and starkly different are the experiences of Indians overseas in different parts of the world. Representatives were there from all over the world.

IIK: Were there any other speakers from the Gulf countries?

NG: No, there was no other speaker from the Gulf region.

IIK: What was your paper all about?

NG: My paper focused on the Perceptions, Priorities and Parleys as they exist as far as our Indian community in Kuwait is concerned. Regarding Perceptions, I spoke about how there is no uniformity in which we, the Indians, are looked upon by the local population (Kuwaitis). Perceptions matter a lot because what treatment we get depends on how the host society and government feels about us, and that decides how many issues we face. Mahatma Gandhi’s saga also began with the way the Asians and Africans were looked upon there.

In Kuwait, the Indian business community which has been here for generations wields a lot of clout and influence and are highly regarded. Even the second category of professionals---comprising our doctors, engineers, finance experts, IT specialists, para-medical staff, and the professionals in banking, insurance and other areas, is very well regarded and rewarded. However, the third category comprising the labour class which accounts for about 40% of us, lives on minimal wages. They are neither well-regarded and nor well-rewarded.

IIK: Very correctly said, Navniit… Did you also speak on how Kuwaitization may impact all these three categories?

NG: Yes, of course. It is very natural that the young educated Kuwaitis who have themselves acquired professional degrees will now want to take over the top-level and mid-level executive positions, many of which are held by expats in general and Indians in particular. I did speak about the irony that the Indian professionals who live in comfort and are generally well-regarded may soon find themselves dispensable whereas the third category which lives in pitiable conditions may be here even for the next five decades or so.

IIK: What concerns did you raise that need to be looked at, as priority issues for the Indian community in Kuwait?

NG: I could not raise all the concerns but I did raise two legal, one social, one educational and one—a general but important one.

First, there is this issue of the verification of the academic degrees of our professionals which is creating legal hiccups and posing unnecessary threats to their jobs. There is a need to streamline the process in India. Also, for years now---the duping of vulnerable job-seekers to the Gulf by the fraud recruitment agencies goes on and on. Even though our government took various steps to counter this, the fake recruitment rings must be severely clamped down upon by the authorities in India. It puts the lives, safety, savings and future of thousands of Indians in jeopardy.

One social priority which I stressed upon is the need for an electric crematorium here in Kuwait. This matter was taken up by our former Minister for External Affairs---Late Smt Sushma Swaraj but obviously the matter needs to be followed up so as to reach the desired end. I spoke on how cumbersome the process is---since the family is already in trauma and that everyone of us cannot even afford the expensive procedure of taking the mortal remains to India.

Regarding higher education, I feel the scene is quite lamentable here. Parents of teenaged kids are, all the time, wondering what to do after their kids complete Class XII. And this problem is faced by everyone living in the Gulf. Despite the processes of liberalization and globalization being three decades old now, there is no overseas campus of any Indian college or University. Lakhs of Indians live in Gulf but nobody is thinking in India about what happens to their children after Class XII. We cannot afford the American or Arab Universities here. Either we send our kids to the US or Canada or Georgia or UK, or to India to lives in hostels or with grandparents… Or, the entire family decides to pack up and leave, whereas the parents in their mid-40s or 50s could have lived here for longer periods and added to their savings and sent further remittances to our country. Also, it is sad that all this money that we give to foreign universities where we enroll our kids, could have gone to our universities and even families would not have had to be split for the sake of higher education.

IIK: Did you raise any other concerns?

NG: I also spoke about the need to educate, orient and train our people before they go to foreign countries to work or study. I know our size of population is huge but even before we export mangoes to other nations, we check multiple times because we want to get a good price and earn a good name. So also, we need to polish and train our human resources a little. Before stepping out, they need to know the culture; the laws; language and the prevalent practices in the country they are headed to. Even a short but mandatory course in good civic behavior can enhance the image of Indian diaspora worldwide.

IIK: What do you mean by ‘Parleys’, about which you spoke?

NG: By ‘parleys’, I referred to the need to talk; to discuss; to negotiate and to communicate, to seek resolution of our issues. I think that we need to communicate at three levels: our individual level; the diplomatic level and at the level of our political leadership.

Every morning, as we step out to work, we must remember that through our words, our conduct, our body language and our performance---we are deciding what and how shall the Kuwaitis think about us. We are communicating and perceptions are being made all the time. Secondly, our representative, i.e., our Honorable Ambassador needs to communicate and seek resolution of our issues which thankfully our present Ambassador HE Shri Sibi George is doing wonderfully. He is talking, listening to, and is also meeting us as openly as he is meeting the Kuwaiti authorities and other diplomats.

However, there are some goals which only the political leadership can steer us towards and here, the fact that no PM of India has visited Kuwait in 40 years to invigorate the bilateral ties, ---is indeed sad. Despite we being nearly one million here and despite our large remittances and despite the need to boost trade ties with Kuwait--- it is demotivating that we are not a ‘priority’ visit by any PM of ours in four decades!

IIK: You comprehensively covered as well as you could, in the limited time you had, and we are indeed proud that you could represent Kuwait there. On the whole, what was your take-away thought?

NG: On the whole, and after listening to the representatives of the Indian diaspora from all over the world, I felt that life is a mixed deal no matter where we live and whether we live as expats or as natives even in India. The picture is never fully black or white. At the end of it, I uttered a ‘Shukran, Kuwait’, for all that it has given us and for all the reasons for which we need to be grateful to this land of our livelihood!

Thank you, Deepika and thank you indiansinkuwait.com