User:Gibmetal77/The Evolution of the Hindu Community in Gibraltar

At the end of the Napoleonic wars, the military Governor and Commander of the Garrison in Gibraltar would permit traders and craftsmen from Genoa, Malta, Portugal, Spain and other Mediterranean lands to enter Gibraltar for the purpose of providing goods and services to the military personnel and their families based in Gibraltar.

Following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the first merchants from India arrived in Gibraltar in or about 1870. The establishment in Gibraltar of such traders and craftsmen was by courtesy or permission of the Military Governor of the day and there was no difference as to status or rights between a trader from, say, Genoa and one from Hyderabad Sindh.

It is a curious phenomenon that almost the entire community here can trace its origin to a city called Hyderabad in the tiny province of Sindh in that part of the Indian sub-continent, which is now (since the partition) Pakistan.

It is important to bear in mind that the present population of Gibraltar comprises entirely of descendants of immigrants and, in that context, the Hindu Community could view its origins in the same light as the Gibraltarian descended from the, say, Maltese settler. If anything, the settler from Hyderabad Sindh, a century ago, would legitimately expect a greater right in Gibraltar because, as an Indian, he was a British subject.

No Indian was born in Gibraltar for over 50 years after the first merchant arrived here from India! The early Indian merchants regarded Gibraltar as nothing more than a trading outpost in that they would set up their businesses and go back to India leaving staff recruited from India on short term contracts to man their businesses here. Only from the mid-1920’s did the proprietors or senior employees reside here with their respective families.

Until 1921 only about 7 Indian traders were licensed by the Military Authorities and once licensed they enjoyed complete freedom of trade and the right to have as many alien employees resident in Gibraltar as they thought necessary. By this time the civilian population in Gibraltar was growing rapidly and the shortage of housing and poor living conditions generally resulted in 1923 in aliens being restricted to only one place of business for each licence holder and the number of alien employees restricted to such number necessary for the conduct of each business. In addition, the Military Governor decided that as a matter of policy no further aliens would be permitted to open businesses here.

This marked the beginning of restrictions on the right of Indians to trade or work and live in Gibraltar and culminated in the Trade Restrictions Ordinance which limited the right of Indian traders to trade in goods which Gibraltarians were not interested in selling.

After the Second World War, the partition of the Indian sub-continent into India and Pakistan as a prelude to Independence saw the large movement of Hindus out of Pakistan and of Muslims out of India. A large number of Hindus settled away from their new homeland, India, and some settled in Gibraltar.

By 1950 there were 23 licensed Indian traders and by 1961 the number had risen only slightly to 26. The 1950’s saw a radical change in the character and legal status of (but not the rights enjoyed by) Indians in Gibraltar. The British Nationality Act 1948 conferred upon Indians aged over 21 who had lived in Gibraltar for more than 5 years the right to be registered as U.K. citizens.

It was, therefore, no longer appropriate to refer to persons of Indian origin as Indians because a large number of them now enjoyed a different nationality. The community has, accordingly, now become known as the Hindu Community to describe persons of Indian origin sharing Hinduism as a religion and culture regardless of nationality.

The withdrawal of Spanish labour in 1969 compelled the Gibraltar Government to ease the restriction on expatriate labour residing in Gibraltar with the result that the Hindus who held U.K citizenship and resided in Spain took up residence in Gibraltar with their families and, what is more, the Hindu traders were allowed to recruit more Indian nationals to replace Spanish shop assistants. This saw a very substantial increase in the size of the Community but there continued to exist restrictions in terms of trading licences and immigration controls.

1973 saw a dramatic change in the fortunes of the Hindu Community in Gibraltar in that with the entry of the United Kingdom (and with it Gibraltar) into the E.E.C. those members of the Community who had acquired U.K. citizenship qualified overnight for treatment as E.E.C. nationals with the same rights as 300 million Englishmen, Frenchmen, Italians and other E.E.C. nationals.

The right to live, trade and work in Gibraltar transformed the Hindu Community into a more dynamic and outward looking Community. This has brought about increased investment in property and trade and a change in the nature of the trade hitherto carried on by the Hindu Community. What is more, younger members of the Community are increasingly looking with considerable success for a livelihood in one of the professions, particularly in the finance sector, and the civil service.

The increased confidence and the sense of belonging to Gibraltar has enabled Hindus to participate fully in service organisations (such as the Rotary Club and the Lions Club of Gibraltar), in the Chamber of Commerce and in other walks of public life.

After a century of disabilities, the last forty years have seen the insertion into the jigsaw that makes up the Gibraltarian of another piece, namely the Hindu, to complete the colourful picture that is Gibraltarian society today. By virtue of amendments in 1999 to the Gibraltarian Status Act, a significant number of Hindus is eligible for and many have acquired Gibraltarian status by registration, thus affirming their close, permanent links with Gibraltar.

The gradual and steady process of integration is not limited to trade but extends to social and cultural matters as is evident from the increasing association between Hindus and the rest of Gibraltarian society to the extent of marriage in a few but increasing number of cases.

By Haresh K. Budhrani

First published in Namaste Magazine, Gibraltar.