ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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The Historical Trajectory of Modern Assam

The Quest for Modern Assam: A History, 1942–2000 by Arupjyoti Saikia, New Delhi: Penguin, 2023; pp 852, `1,299.

The Politics of Delimitation in Assam

The delimitation exercise in Assam has not only redrawn the boundaries of the constituencies but also political fault lines of the state. Hailed by a section as a step to safeguard the rights of indigenous communities and critiqued by another for ensuring skewed representation, the act may have multipronged impact on the state politics ahead of elections.

Elusive Frontier

The forest management and state-building efforts in the late 19th century are analysed by examining the failure of a state-run rubber plantation in Charduar, Assam. This plantation needs to be understood as a means of establishing state control along an ecologically, topographically and politically volatile frontier. It emphasises the importance of analysing colonialism as a complex and spatially diverse phenomenon rather than a monolithic juggernaut. The failure of the rubber experiment symbolised the failure of colonial authority in the tribal hills.

Citizenship, Nationality, Discord, Accord, and Assam

The appearance of the Assam Accord in the recent citizenship debates in India has a historical significance. Providing a critique of liberal citizenship, Assam’s journey shows how citizenship in a culturally diverse nation state like India evolved distinctively along with different identity questions. Assam, through a popular movement against “illegal” migrants, under the leadership of the educated (middle) class, asserted this identity question and tangled the Assamese nationality in the legal framework of Indian citizenship. The accord, which ended the protest, led to the first amendment of the Citizenship Act, 1955 in 1985, specifically addressing Assam’s case. Drawing from vernacular literature and archival records, this paper offers a fresh perspective on the political history of citizenship in Assam from pre-independence until the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985 and its immediate implementation.

Dehing Patkai National Park

Assam witnessed an unprecedented social media protest in the mid-2020 for the protection of the Dehing Patkai rainforest located in the eastern part of the state. This green movement was centred on the issue of legitimising illegal coal mining in the rainforest by the National Board for Wildlife during the nationwide lockdown. Tracing the journey of the national park, the present article argues that the controversy reflects the contradiction between the metropolitan and indigenous version of ecological nationalism. The latter, though instrumental for mass mobilisation in environmental movements, does not occupy adequate space in the electoral politics.

Flood, Displacement and Politics: The Assam Chapter

Floods and river bank erosion is a deadly menace for millions of people, specifically for the marginalised population in Assam. Assam can only progress by solving the perennial flood problem of the state. This paper shows how the natural disaster and the resultant internal displacements of people have been used to fan the exclusionary politics of citizenship in Assam.

The More-than-human Brahmaputra

The Unquiet River: A Biography of the Brahmaputra by Arupjyoti Saikia, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2019; pp xxxv + 583, `1,195 (hardcover).

Exploitation in Small Tea Gardens of Assam

The emergence of small tea growers is a relatively new phenomenon in Assam. Owners of small land plots mainly located in the eastern part of the state have taken to small tea cultivation in a big way in the last three–four decades. The nature of production of the sector is informal. The unemployed youth and farmers of other unprofitable crops, who have taken to small-scale tea cultivation, are likely to be exploited by agents and owners of tea factories who buy raw tea leaves. Primary survey data are collected from five districts of eastern and central Assam to investigate the monopsonistic exploitation of small tea growers by tea leaf buyers.

A Historical Understanding of Assam's Floods

In the case of the Assam floods, one must accept that flood is predetermined, which has always already occurred. The Indian government must acknowledge its 'failure' to understand the river's rhythm by recognising the flood as a 'national disaster'. The government's need to own such failure suggests that it is only in failing that we establish a new possibility.

Tantalisingly Intertwined and Complex

The Eastern Gate: War and Peace in Nagaland, Manipur and India’s Far East by Sudeep Chakravarti, Simon and Schuster India, 2022; pp 399, `899.

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