Migration, Identity and the Khare Goenkar Movement

Abstract

Since 1947, India has witnessed large-scale internal migration across states. Goa, which was liberated from Portuguese colonial rule in 1961, has been receiving an unprecedented influx of migrants from across its borders, from Karnataka and other states. In the 1980s, after two decades of Goa's liberation, the ethnic consciousness of the people of Goa came to be consolidated into an ideology of nativism, due to which outsiders came to be seen as a threat to the Goan identity and well-being. A movement called Khare Goenkar (true Goan) emerged, aiming to rid Goa of outsiders from such spheres as education and employment. This article examines the enduring nexus between migration, identity and conflict in light of the Khare Goenkar movement, arguing that the movement was not an isolated act of public disorder but a manifestation of deep-rooted anxieties surrounding migration, belonging and identity.