Identity Politics and Citizenship Question in Assam

Abstract The citizenship question in Assam, closely linked to the politics of identity, continues to get driven by the deep-rooted anxieties implanted by colonialism. The encouragement of migration of Muslim peasants into Assam to satisfy the colonial needs and the subsequent conflict over land, along with the later-day politics of the Muslim League to make Assam a part of Pakistan, ultimately laid down the foundation for the obsessive identity politics in the state. Given this complex colonial history and the failure of post-colonial efforts to achieve a sustainable resolution, the citizenship issue remains contentious in Assam sustaining ambivalence over both citizenship and identity. The post-colonial citizenship regime—the Assam Accord, 1985, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019—have widened and intensified the debates. Further, the consolidation of the Hindutva politics and its otherization of the Bengali Muslims have created newer hierarchies within the category of citizenship. Against this background, the present article argues that the contestation over identity and citizenship operates at two levels: first, at the level of social identity, concerning whether the migrant Bengali Muslim, also called Miyas, are recognized as Assamese; and second, at the level of citizenship, concerning whether they are identified as citizens or illegal immigrants. This consequently generates and sustains ambiguity and liminality in the position of the Miya Muslims, thereby maintaining the ongoing contestation over belonging and citizenship in Assam.