How long have you kept a secret?
Sixty years ago, about 3000 Chinese-Indians were forced into an internment camp in a town called Deoli in Rajasthan, India.
Some of these Chinese-Indians of Chinese ancestry who had been living in India for generations were detained for nearly five years, and all those interned experienced horrific conditions. Many of those who know of the border war between China and India in 1962 are unaware of this hidden piece of history.
The Indian government has yet to acknowledge, let alone apologize, for the incarceration of innocent civilians.
VOICES OF DEOLI tells the survivors’ stories, bearing witness to their memories of the camp, following their journey as immigrants, and showing their new lives in North America as they continue to seek justice and healing.
“I am the way I look, but I’m also not the way I look.”
Voices of Deoli is a feature-length documentary that uncovers the untold story of Chinese Indians who were imprisoned without charges in a desert internment camp following the 1962 Sino-Indian War.
Through the voices of survivors now living in North America, the film explores the long shadow of state-sanctioned xenophobia, the trauma of displacement, and the fight for justice over 60 years later.
Voices of Deoli reveals how fear and state power are repeatedly used to marginalize immigrant communities, showing that history does, in fact, repeat itself.
Watch Voices of Deoli
Voices of Deoli is available to stream on Tubi and for educational licensing on New Day Films.
