seat of power, that is New Delhi. (45)
There was dissatisfaction among Anglo-Indians who viewed
these leaders as
... running only for seats in the state
legislative assemblies of Parliament, instead
of running our schools and looking after the
problem of Anglo-Indians in the slums. (46)
By 1990, the confusion about the size or the number count
in the Anglo-Indian community, became linked to the
conflicts in the community about the ethnic difference
between an Anglo-Indian and an Indian Christian. Size and
ethnicity were inseparable in the response to the question.
There were long discussions about the ethnicity of the
Anglo-Indian which lies at the heart of the definition of
an Anglo-Indian in the Constitution of India. This
definition omitted two criteria "the mother tongue of
Anglo-Indians which was English and the Anglo-Indian's
religion, Christianity, " and therefore there was just a
thin dividing line between the Anglo-Indian and the Indian
Christian. (47)
At the core of the conflict is the relatively small size of
the Anglo-Indian community compared to the Indian Christian
community. Anglo-Indians feared that the Indian Christians
would take over the Anglo-Indian schools. If, Indian
Christians were treated as Anglo-Indians, the
Anglo-Indians' worst fears would materialise. They would
lose control of the Anglo-Indian schools, and their
minority status or ethnicity would not protect them. The
groups and associations who have been so
. . . busy squabbling and fighting with one
another, will have handed the schools to the
Indian Christians, and that will indeed be a
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