These people deprived of this country: language and the politics of belonging among Indians of Nepali descent

This dissertation explores the way 'language,‘ like other forms of social designations—e.g. race, ethnicity, or caste—gains meaning through social, legal, and linguistic practices and ideologies. Indians of Nepali descent have lived and worked in the Darjeeling hills for more than 150 years yet are, throughout India, often labeled as 'foreigners,‘ 'tribals,‘ and 'squatters.‘ They also speak Nepali, a major factor that contributes to such perceptions despite their Indian citizenship. To counteract these labels and those discriminatory policies and practices they have incited, the Indian Nepali community in Darjeeling founded an organization in 1972 whose goal was the constitutional recognition of Nepali a national language of India. This recognition would, they argued, lead to an acceptance of their language and, more importantly, the recognition of their Indian citizenship. Although the Nepali language was finally included in the constitution in 1992, the anticipated social, political, and legal acceptance of the community was not forthcoming. Continuing discrimination, along with economic and political shifts in the region, has led to significant changes in the linguistic practices and language ideologies among Indians of Nepali descent in Darjeeling—most notably the increasing, and conflicted, use of English that was only visible when both ethnographic and linguistic methods (matched-guise test) were utilized.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Chelsea L. Boot