Nepalese people of Indian ancestry
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| (< 4,000,000) | |
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Indian Nepali, Indian Nepalese or Indo Nepalese are Nepalese (Nepali people) who have total or partial Indian heritage. Majority of Rana-Tharu and one-third of Madhesis are the politically elite Indo-Nepalese peoples. There are large number of Indian immigrants in Nepal, consisting of recent migrants from India to Nepal. Indian Immigration to Nepal stopped by the start of 21st century except cross border marriage. There are currently about 4 to 5 million Nepalese of Indian origin living in Nepal.[1]
History
The wave of Indian immigration occurred during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The government of Nepal or its agents encouraged many Indian migrants to move into the Terai for settlement. Still in the early 1990s, this group mostly consisted of landless tenants and farmers from northern India's border states of Bihar. After the fall of monarchy in Nepal, these poor immigrants managed to acquire citizenship.
Most of the Indian immigrants in Nepal, were primarily agriculturalists, although a majority of them also relied on other activities to produce supplementary income. They generally raised some farm animals, particularly water buffalo, cows, goats, and sheep for domestic purposes. The Nepalese from hills traditionally have occupied the vast majority of civil service positions because of their historical roots but there was very little involvement of Indian immigrants in Nepal's politics as they are recent arrivals.
Religion
The majority of the Indian immigrants to Nepal are Hindus and Muslims. The Hinduism that is practiced by the Nepalese people has been influenced by Buddhism and indigenous folk belief.
A majority of Nepalese Muslims are Indian immigrants. Nearly 97 percent of them reside in the Terai region.
Discrimination
Anti-India sentiment in Nepal is partly driven by history. The root of the problem lies in the settlement of Indian immigrants in the Terai region of Nepal. Indigenous Nepalese people residing mostly in the hill areas have resented their presence. The Tharus and Madhesis are the original inhabitants of Terai Regions of Nepal and consider other immigrants as Indian immigrants. They feel the Terai population exercises a disproportionate influence over Nepalese politics and economy. They also feel that the Indian immigrants in Terai Region are newly settled, and that there was no existence of them in past.
Notable castes
Through south
Notable people
- Jamim Shah - Media entrepreneur and the chairman of Channel Nepal Pvt. Ltd
- Yuyutsu Sharma - Writer
- Preeti Kaur - Nepalese pop singer
See also
References
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