The faded purple Chinese characters on heavy iron gates are the only signs suggesting the old glory of an airy compound in the middle of congested Tangra in Kolkata. They spell ‘Pei May Chinese School’ — once a symbol of a community’s resilience and heritage; today, a checkpoint.
For, beyond the decorative scrolls of the gate, the white, three-storey Pei May Chinese School building no longer crawls with children running down corridors or playing in the courtyard. The striking sight is of rows of undershirts and fatigues hung out to dry, belonging to 150-200 CISF personnel who have now been living on the premises for 18 months.
The school this week approached the Calcutta High Court to get the building back.
Founded by the local Chinese community and maintained via donations, Pei May was once the heartbeat of Kolkata’s Chinatown, famed for its Indo-Chinese cuisine and leather tanneries. In the 1950s, say locals, more than 1,000 students filled the school’s halls.
Following the 1962 Indo-China war and decades of migration to the West, those numbers had dwindled to a handful of students in recent years. It continued to function as a charity institute, offering nearly free education to the local children of Tangra. But, after the CISF came in, all classes stopped.
A visibly upset Monica Liu, the wife of Pei May’s president K C Liu and the leading voice of the Chinese community in Tangra, says the school is more than just a building to them. “It is our community school. In 1960, it was exempted from any tax by the Governor. Since then, it has been a charity school run by locals.”
Monica says she has written five-six letters to the authorities and met officials to get the Pei May premises back, but has not got any reply.
TMC MLA Swarna Kamal Saha, who represents Entally, one of the three Assembly constituencies under which Tangra falls, says he is aware the CISF personnel have been staying in Pei May for more than a year, but that the community never approached him over it. “I agree that the deployment should not have gone on for so long… If the local community had informed us, I would have tried to find a solution.”
The school authorities opened the premises for use by the CISF after a court order following the unrest at R G Kar Medical College over the rape and murder of a doctor. The college is located around 5 km away and the CISF was deployed for its security. The original agreement was that the CISF would use the premises for two months, which has now stretched to 18.
Monica claims that modifications have been made on the premises “without permission”, including setting up of 10 makeshift washrooms. “When we objected, we were told there are so many living on the premises that it is difficult to adjust with the few existing bathrooms… We were shocked. We want our school back.”
Apart from classes for children, Pei May was also the venue for local community events such as sports meets and the Chinese New Year. This year the New Year falls on February 16, which has added a sense of urgency for the community. “This (the CISF deployment) cannot go on forever,” says Michel, a local resident who refused to give her full name. Others describe it as “a fortified zone” now, with outsiders not allowed past the gate.
Monica says it is not the first time Central forces have occupied the premises, and that the paramilitary often takes over during the elections. “Usually they came, stayed for 15 days and left. But this time they are not telling us when they will leave.”
A member of the Chinese-Indian community in Tangra says the limbo over the school is “very unfortunate”. “Pei May is the repository of our history and culture… Out of generosity our community gave that space, now it seems it has been totally encroached… Our fear is that it will disappear one day,” says a resident.
Advocate S N Panda, who is representing the school in court, says: “Many families who had students here have moved out. But they continue to contribute to keep Pei May running. It’s a matter of pride for them.”
The thinning out of Tangra’s Chinese heritage is also evident in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls by the Election Commission. As per a study by a non-profit policy research body, Sabar Institute, more than 400 Chinese-origin residents have been deleted from the first draft after the SIR exercise, across the constituencies of Kasba, Entally, and Chowringhee covering Tangra.
Sources said most of the deletions were on account of the voters being “untraceable” or “absent”. A Chinatown resident, speaking on the condition of anonymity. says: “We believe there are deletions because many community members have moved abroad or to other parts of India.”
A restaurateur in his 50s, Lui, praises the SIR exercise. “There was panic before the exercise started, but it has all been conducted smoothly.”
Another resident, Joseph Chain, says a “clean-up” of the rolls was long overdue. “There are many who have died, or left, gone to China. But their names had remained in the list.”
Michael Cheng, who runs an eatery, also says the poll rolls should reflect the “current reality” of the neighborhood. “In 1962, the Sino-Indian War led to mass internments and the first major wave of out-migration. Since then many have died, or left, including for Canada and the US. We expected the deletions,” says another Chinatown resident.
“Out-migration is the real picture of Chinatown,” says Entally MLA Saha.