The Defense of India Act, passed in December 1962 in the wake of our defeat in the Sino Indian war, permitted the "apprehension and detention in custody of any person [suspected] of being of hostile origin." With this, the Government began to round up ten thousand Indians of Chinese origins(Many whose ancestors had emigrated from their homeland as early as 1780). The ones who could not raise the cost for leaving India(As ordered to by the Government) or refused to leave India found themselves in local prisons, or a prison camp in Deoli, Rajasthan. Accused of being spies for a foreign power, none faced trial or convictions and not a single charge was proved. This act was directly in contradiction to our own Constitution as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which India was an original signatory. Illegal, immoral and inhuman, was the detention of these fellow citizens, 3,000 of whom stayed in a camp originally built for British Prisoners of War in World War 2. Many died of heatstroke, with 60% of the inhabitants of the desert camp being children or senior citizens.

After some time, the PRC sent ships to take 'home' those who wanted to leave. The remaining people were let go in batches, from 1965 to 1967, returning home to find their properties looted or captured by force. Until the mid 1980s, those of Chinese origin had to report to specified police stations routinely and needed permits to travel within the country.

To those who have left, we have nothing to offer. But for those who stayed, in spite of all the discrimination, we, as a democracy, owe at least an apology. The Act was nothing but formal ethnic discrimination, disguised as national security legislation. Millions of Indians have ancestors who used to live in West Pakistan or East Pakistan, and an Act such as this was never used for them, despite us fighting four wars with Pakistan. Even today, the plaque at Deoli talks of "German, Japanese and Chinese" prisoners housed there, lumping Indian civilians with foreign combatants. What happened cannot be changed, but an apology from the Government is only just and fair, values which we claim to stand for.