Borders and Identities: Who is a “Bangladeshi” in Assam?
This talk explores the ambiguities surrounding Indian citizenship in Assam, Northeast India. The stigmatised category of the “suspected Bangladeshi”, a product of competing histories of land loss and migration, has emerged more recently from shifts in immigration regimes and electoral politics. Based on participant observation in two Foreigners Tribunals, I show how the police and the judiciary make suspicion, rather than legal certainty fundamental to the manufacturing of Indian citizenship. Seeking to identify and deport “illegal” Bangladeshis, these processes disrupt the relationships that people have with papers, places, families, and communities. In the light of current developments, my talk will reflect on questions of identity and belonging in Assam and what it means to be an Indian citizen.
Date: 12 October 2021, 14:00 (Tuesday, 1st week, Michaelmas 2021)
Venue: Online - Zoom
Speaker: Malini Sur (University of Western Sydney)
Organising department: Asian Studies Centre
Organiser contact email address: asian@sant.ox.ac.uk
Part of: Modern South Asian Studies Seminar Series
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qkNJ3qvORmWIDVqsDSiB2w
Booking email: asian@sant.ox.ac.uk
Audience: Public
Editor: Clare Salter