Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c13.s4.t4.9

v2.c13.s4.t4.9

The community suffered a severe setback as a result of the 1962 hostilities between India and China over the disputed border. Many Chinese families were uprooted from their homes, sent to internment camps and in some cases, deported. Those who were later allowed to return to their homes in India found it hard to pick up the threads of their lives. The legal and political status of many of them in India is not secure. This trauma has been movingly depicted in the writings of Kwai-yun Li who herself had grown up in Kolkata and of the Assamese writer Rita Chowdhury Rita Chowdhury whose novel *Makam* has been widely read in Assam. Rafeeq Elias’ short film *The Legend of Fat Mama* also evokes the mixed memories of this community.