Revision as of 20:22, 5 November 2022

An overview

The Times of India The Times of India 2013/09/24 A centuries-old romance with East Africa

Saeed Khan TNN

Over 75,000 Indian origin people, including passport holders, live in Kenya 75% of them are Kenyan, 10% British overseas and 15% Indian citizens Most are settled around cities like Nairobi and engaged in agriculture and business Old diaspora mainly migrated from Punjab and Gujarat Fresh immigrants belong to places like TN and Andhra and are techies, engineers, teachers etc

Migration to east Africa started in the 19th century and bulk of Indians were taken there to build Mombasa-Kampala railway line and to work in fields

Mostly Gujarati immigrants established retail businesses later and are referred as ‘Dukawallas’

Many Indians left Kenya after they were asked to take work and residence permits under the policy of Kenyanisation of economy in 1967

History

In 1997, the Ugandan president Yowri Museveni asked Gujaratis and other Asians who had fled the country during Idi Amin’s regime to return their African roots. As Uganda tried integrate into the global economy, it needed the famous entrepreneurial zeal of Gujaratis.

Historian Makrand Mehta says, “Gujarati businessmen have played an important role in East Africa’s economic development. As creative emigrants with agift for innovation and entrepreneurship, they were involved in every facet of commercial life until the military regime forced them to leave in the early 1970s.”

Experts say Gujarati migrants of the 19th century are credited with transforming East Africa’s barter society into a money economy. No wonder then that a large number of the Indian victims killed in the terrorist attack at Nairobi’s Westgate mall were Gujaratis. According to one estimate, around 70 of the 300 shops in the mall are owned by Gujaratis. Over 100,000 people of Indian origin live in Kenya at present. Though, Indians constitute less than 1% of the population, they play a key role in the economy.

So well integrated are Indians, especially Gujaratis, in the cultural life of Kenya and Tanzania that there are around 15 Swaminarayan temples in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kerugoya, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret towns. Of the 15-member Kenyan cricket team between 1995 and 2005, seven players had been trained by a club run by the Swaminarayan sect in Nairobi.

Although history shows trade links between Gujarat and the African coast dating back to ancient Babylon, it was in the 1860s that modern day migration started. National Museum of Kenya says that 31,983 workers were taken from India, mainly from Kutch and Punjab, to lay a railway line from Mombasa in Kenya to Kampala in Uganda.

Between 1896 and 1901, 2,493 workers died and 6,454 persons became invalid while laying tracks. But after the contract was over, about 7,000 Indians chose to stay back. Gujaratis started pouring in as free emigrants, and founded their trade and business in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Today, Gujaratis have large land holdings and industrial units.

Philanthropy

Meghji Pethraj Shah, a Gujarati, had setup the hospital named after him where most Nairobi terror attack victims are being treated.

The 94-bed MP Shah Hospital has been treating patients beyond its capacity since terrorists stormed a mall in the city.“We have about 12-15 Gujarati doctors at the hospital,” said Kirtiraben Acharya, who works at the hospital.

Shah, who was from Dabasana village in Jamnagar, owned many businesses and started his career in Kenya. He setup the hospital for Indians in Kenya most of whom are Gujaratis. The hospital is ranked among the best hospitals in Kenya and operates under the umbrella of the Social Service League, a charitable institution.

“He built many hospitals in his hometown besides in Nairobi and a college in his wife’s name in Matunga — Maniben MP Shah Women’s College,’’ said MP Shah Charitable Trust and Foundation trustee Ashok Shah.

In Ahmedabad, he built MP Shah Cancer Hospital, besides a town hall and 40 schools and a medical college in Jamnagar. He built eight hostels in Saurashtra and a college in Surendranagar.

Shah, who ran a tannery and steel business in Kenya, also built an old-age home in his home state. His son, Vipin Shah, is based in London.