Sanjib Baruah
The writer is professor of political studies, Bard College, New York
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More From Sanjib Baruah
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
Thu, Aug 02, 2018
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’.
Fri, Jul 20, 2018
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.
Thu, Jun 28, 2018
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.
Fri, Jan 19, 2018
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
Sat, Aug 26, 2017
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
Mon, Nov 28, 2016
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.
Sat, Aug 20, 2016
In the Northeast, an uneasy new alliance
Launch of NEDA notwithstanding, BJP remains prone to ideological grandstanding in the region.
Thu, Jul 14, 2016
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.
Thu, Jun 02, 2016
The Great Game in the East
How geopolitics and geography shaped the idea of the Northeast.
Sat, Apr 23, 2016
New election, old scars
Veterans of the Assam Movement now fight polls. But the bitterness — and the issues — linger on.
Wed, Mar 23, 2016
A pseudo peace
Has the Naga insurgency, India’s oldest, really ended? It is too soon to say.
Tue, Aug 11, 2015
The Nagas of India and Myanmar
Delhi will not succeed in dealing with Khaplang if it fails to understand Naypyidaw’s new priorities.
Thu, May 14, 2015
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.
Wed, Mar 18, 2015
Upstream superpowers
Chinese and Indian policies on river systems are more alike than different
Fri, Dec 05, 2014
The cloud over Burdwan
The actions of some of Modi’s political allies could jeopardise India’s foreign policy goals.
Mon, Nov 17, 2014
Dividing line
Northeast policy should dispense with archaic systems like the inner line
Fri, Oct 03, 2014
The shadow of the foreigner
The Bangladeshi influx issue has suddenly returned to Assam’s political agenda. This time it is in the form of a farce. From 1979 to 19...
Thu, Jun 16, 2005The Road to China
AFEW years ago, there was a story in the Assam Tribune from Arunachal Pradesh with the intriguing headline ‘Dindu Miri: The man who cam...
Sun, Apr 10, 2005Take the jungle to the law
When the five-member panel reviewing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), headed by Justice B P Jeevan Reddy, visited Manipur, the m...
Wed, Mar 09, 2005Look East, but via the Northeast
In 1999, when China brought together experts, scholars and business people from China, India, Myanmar and Bangladesh to initiate a regional ...
Fri, Dec 12, 2003