Chinesewings.com 2004/02/06

　　In Kolkata, West Bengal, the Indian Chinese Association has petitioned the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in India to send them Mandarin teachers. At the same time, they have also cried out to the Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to supply necessary aide.
　　Secretary of the Indian Chinese Association states, “70% of the people living in Kolkata are Asian, yet they don’t know how to speak or write Mandarin. It is an embarrassing situation.”
　　50 year old Mr. Gu, who works in the leather shoes industry, says that the origins of Asians in Kolkata can be traced back 200 years ago to the time of the British East India Company. At that time, the first group of Chinese sailed the seas and landed 65 miles away from Kolkata. Soon afterwards, many more Chinese arrived in Kolkata and set up residence. The highest number of Asians in Kolkata once reached 50,000.
　　Kolkata has Chinatown, a remnant of the past, where numerous Asians once resided. A good number of them habe now moved to Canada. During 1962 of the Sino-Indian Border War, Asians in India were deeply impacted. The Indian government sent back thousands of Asians, causing those still within the country to escape to America or Canada. Presently each Asian family living in Kolkata has at least one family member living in Canada. Mr. Gu says out of his 30 classmates, only 3 remain in Kolkata, the rest are in Canda.
　　There were three Chinese schools and three Mandarin newspapers in the past. Presently there are only two schools left and one of the newspapers, 《India Daily》has stopped publication. All the Asians residing now in Kolkata believe that as a Chinese, it is necessary to learn more about their mother tongue, culture and customs.