Articles by Sajal Nag

Fault lines of the dispute over National Register of Citizens can be traced back to the continuing politics of demography in the history of Assam. Anti-immigrant agitations and violence has been its recurrent feature. The persistent sense of fear of being taken over by immigrants is used to achieve communal polarisation.

The Naga problem presented the first major crisis of understanding and the understanding of crisis that confronted the post-colonial Indian state. Nehru believed that maximum autonomy could neutralise sovereignty aspirations but the Naga insistence on independence combined with armed opposition to the Indian state compelled him to send the army and hardened his stance. The non-resolution of the Naga issue made him introspect as to why he was unable to "win them over" and he admitted that he may have erred in his approach. Yet, despite his failure, Nehru's model of dealing with the Nagas has become the standard mode for dealing with minority nationalisms in south Asia.

In his life, the 19th century poet and litterateur, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, embodied many of the contradictions that are characteristic of a society in transition. In the mid-19th century, many politically conscious Bengalis were aware of the demands made on them and their "moribund" culture by colonialism. Rejuvenating the Bengali culture and language from within or its radical overhaul, as Dutt advocated, was an issue that exercised many.

Last year the Irish Republican Army announced an end to its armed campaign and promised to pursue its goal through peaceful political means. It was the sustained campaign waged by six Irish women that compelled the IRA to disarm itself and swap violence for political negotiations as a means to achieve its goal.

The journey of nations begins with the construction of 'self', the basic criteria for which is a preconceived homogeneity. But achieving such a homogeneity proves elusive and the search becomes an exercise in peeling an onion, which involves the shedding of people who do not fit the constructed identity or who question the accepted framework. This in turn prompts the construction of minority identities which strive to build a majority for themselves. In the subcontinent the search for nationhood has always focused on ethnicity, culture and religion, but what has emerged is a heterogeneous mix of people who should have represented diversity but now have one culture, the middle class culture and one identity, the middle class identity.