Sanjib Baruah
The writer is professor of political studies, Bard College, New York
Articles By Sanjib Baruah
Defining thousands as non-citizens will create a new form of precarious citizenship — people with fewer rights, entitlements
India is unlikely to deport to Bangladesh people who fail NRC test. But the millions who will become non-citizens will have fewer rights
The fire in Assam
Many view the citizenship amendment bill as a betrayal of BJP’s poll promise
Winning the neighbourhood
India has displayed an ample supply of national self-confidence and pride in recent years. But the self-confidence has not translated into good public policy.
The missing 4,007,707
Can a democracy permit so many to be in a state of liminal legality? NRC poses a political and moral question
A lesson from Arunachal Pradesh
Debate over the state’s anti-conversion law points to the need to give more attention to religious change from the perspective of the ‘converted’.
Citizens, non-citizens, minorities
Updating of the National Register of Citizens in Assam and the Citizenship Amendment Bill could lead to a redrawing of the demographic map of South Asia, give new life to the discredited two-nation theory.
Stateless in Assam
Thousands could be declared non-citizens when the National Register of Citizens is finalised. Since their deportation is an almost impossible option, the focus will be on the detention policy.
How we define Assam’s flood problem
... is crucial to any attempts towards addressing it. It will require a careful consideration of the history of the state’s complex encounter with floods
Who can become an Indian citizen?
Partition’s long shadow is evident on the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which seeks to introduce a religious distinction in the law. It must be debated
A battle lost, a war to be won
Her supporters in Manipur and elsewhere should thank Irom Sharmila for her extraordinary sacrifice and move on with their campaign against AFSPA without her iconic presence.
In the Northeast, an uneasy new alliance
Launch of NEDA notwithstanding, BJP remains prone to ideological grandstanding in the region.
BJP’s win in Assam resulted from a consolidation, across faultlines, on the issue of citizenship
The keyword in BJP’s election campaign in Assam was khilonjia — a non-Sanskritic word that means original inhabitant, indigenous or autochthonous.
The Great Game in the East
How geopolitics and geography shaped the idea of the Northeast.
New election, old scars
Veterans of the Assam Movement now fight polls. But the bitterness — and the issues — linger on.
A pseudo peace
Has the Naga insurgency, India’s oldest, really ended? It is too soon to say.
The Nagas of India and Myanmar
Delhi will not succeed in dealing with Khaplang if it fails to understand Naypyidaw’s new priorities.
Reimagining Dimapur
Lynching episode underlines the need to bring in a politics based not just on memories of shared ethnic pasts, but the vision of a common future.
Upstream superpowers
Chinese and Indian policies on river systems are more alike than different
The cloud over Burdwan
The actions of some of Modi’s political allies could jeopardise India’s foreign policy goals.
Dividing line
Northeast policy should dispense with archaic systems like the inner line