If the issue of creating a unified Anglo-Indian front does
not materialise within the next five years, the
Anglo-Indians will be playing a subordinate role in
managing and maintaining their own schools.
The blame will lie entirely with the groups and their
limited vision and inability to collaborate with one
another. The Constitution of India will not change, but
the Anglo-Indians cannot take their minority status for
granted.
They must cooperate and do this soon, because group
cohesiveness is the cornerstone in the size∕ethnicity issue
and the separation of the groups in different, fractious,
prejudicial "life-spaces" (53) has resulted in a network
which does not display the cohesiveness of a compact
community unit. Achieving a "life-space" which accepts the
reality of life in post-Independent India by creating a
unified Anglo-Indian front will ensure the survival of
Anglo-Indian schools.
5. Conclusions
The main idea being pursued in this chapter is the size and
ethnicity of the Anglo-Indian community. On the basis of
the evidence collected during the field study, the size of
the Anglo-Indian community is very likely between 300,000
and 400,000. This was much greater than the 70,000
mentioned by the All-India Anglo-Indian Association. (54)
The majority of Anglo-Indians accepted the Constitution of
India's definition of an Anglo-Indian. Nevertheless, this
acceptance was attenuated by biological and cultural
"marks", which constrained their acceptance of the Keralite
and Meghalayan Anglo-Indians.
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