| ID | 187440 |
| Title Proper | Bordering Assam through affective closure |
| Other Title Information | 1971 and the road to the citizenship amendment act of 2019 |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Datta, Antara |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | In 1971 when nearly ten million refugees crossed the border between East Pakistan and India following the outbreak of violence in Dacca on 25 March 1971, it would have surprised many to know that nearly fifty years later that date would be the dividing line between India's putative citizens and those it deemed ‘foreigners’. This article takes a look at the immigration debate in Assam, and the protests against the National Register of Citizens and the Citizenship Amendment Act to argue that it is the erasure of 1971 from the latter that gives rise to the backlash against it. I argue that the events of 1971 produces a moment in which both an affective border emerges against the refugees, followed soon after by an effective legal border through citizenship legislation pertinent to Assam. This article investigates the peculiarity of this moment to determine citizenship within India, its consequences and by doing so rewrites the history of 1971 back into debates about citizenship in India. |
| `In' analytical Note | Asian Affairs Vol. 53, No.2; Jun 2022: p.298-320 |
| Journal Source | Asian Affairs Vol: 53 No 2 |
| Key Words | Citizenship ; Refugees ; Borders ; Assam ; Bangladesh ; 1971 |