In response to Professor Sanjib Baruah's article 'Stateless in Assam' which discussed a new focus on detention camps for 'stateless citizens', Suraj Gogoi, Gorky Chakraborty and Parag Jyoti Saikia reflect on the implications of reducing people to 'bare life'

Chakraborty, Gorky

Gogoi, Suraj

Jyoti Saikia, Parag

LSE Research Online

Assam	against	itself:	a	reply	to	Sanjib	BaruahIn	response	to	Professor	Sanjib	Baruah‘s	article	‘Stateless	in	Assam‘	which	discussed	a	new	focus	on	detentioncamps	for	‘stateless	citizens’,	Suraj	Gogoi,	Gorky	Chakraborty	and	Parag	Jyoti	Saikia	reflect	on	the	implicationsof	reducing	people	to	‘bare	life’.The	Concentration	camps	that	came	to	the	fore	during	the	Holocaust,	left	a	deep	impact	on	human	history.	It	showedus	that	hate	can	be	nurtured	to	humiliate,	torture,	and	reduce	people	to	‘bare	life’.	The	concept	of	the	‘exception’used	by	Hannah	Arendt	and	Giorgio	Agamben	has	been	articulated	in	the	context	of	Northeast	India	by	ProfessorBimol	Akoijam,	as	to	how	the	Indian	state	through	the	Armed	Forces	Special	Power	Act	(AFSPA)	inhumanely	treatsits	own	citizens	and	the	whole	region	as	a	‘different	minority’.	However,	the	manner	in	which	Prof.	Sanjib	Baruahused	this	example	in	his	article	‘Stateless	in	Assam’,	in	invoking	the	idea	of	camps	sends	chills	down	the	spine,	as	hepresents	enforced	settlements	as	normal	human	condition,	a	fate	to	be	endured	for	some.	His	views	on	camps	havebeen	lauded	by	a	number	of	caste	Assamese	intellectuals,	amongst	others.	It	has	thus	created	a	‘state	of	exception’in	a	space	which	itself	is	a	‘state	of	exception’	to	the	Indian	state.	This	double	exceptionality	makes	the	lives	of	HanifKhan,	who	killed	himself	over	fears	he	was	excluded	from	a	list	that	identified	‘legitimate’	Assamese	citizens,	and	ahost	of	others	extremely	precarious.Since	Professor	Baruah	has	invoked	this	idea	of	exception,	let	us	in	return,	invoke	the	idea	of	love	and	solidarity.Martha	Nussbaum	notes	that	cultivating	love	instead	of	hate	would	make	the	world	a	better	place	to	live	in.	The	lackof	love,	in	the	public	and	in	our	emotions,	should	be	an	area	of	great	concern.	Hanif	Khan	and	his	family	needed	loveand	solidarity,	not	a	reminder	of	Arendt’s	work,	which	indeed	became	a	mockery	of	his	life.	Such	an	injunctioncreates	what	W.E.B.	Du	Bois	called	‘twoness’	or	even	a	stranger.	It	is	the	worst	form	of	alienation	where	you	seeyourself	through	the	eyes	of	the	other.	Being	poor	is	hard,	but	to	be	despised	by	the	society,	the	state,	and	itsinstitutions	estranges	an	individual	in	everyday	life.	Becoming	a	‘problem’	is	a	‘strange	experience’	itself,	no	oneneeds	to	reiterate	the	point	that	one	is	a	stranger.	Such	things	only	amplify	the	distance	and	distinction.	What	doessuch	a	position	from	a	senior	writer	on	the	Northeast	inform	us?Professor	Baruah’s	article	also	misses	out	on	certain	fundamental	issues	associated	with	National	Register	ofCitizens	(NRC).	The	idea	of	an	‘original	inhabitants’	state	in	NRC	is	contrary	to	equal	citizenship,	as	arbitrariness	andsuspicion	loom	large	around	the	identification	process.	The	legacy	data	of	1951	and	1971	was	taken	as	the	basis	onwhich	the	citizenship	of	the	people	living	in	Assam	was	to	be	determined.	However,	there	was	hardly	any	questionraised	about	these	legacy	documents,	since	they	were	considered	sacrosanct.	The	legacy	documents	were	nocensus	documents.	Rather,	they	were	rough	notes	books	of	census	enumerators	which	lack	official	validity.NRC	is	using	majoritarianism	in	the	worst	possible	manner.	It	misuses	law	in	making	minorities	stateless.	As	a	formof	identification,	non-inclusion	reduces	an	individual	to	a	lesser	human	being.	Deportation	is	perhaps	a	bilateralissue,	while	death	isn’t.	A	matter	of	life	and	death,	fear	and	pain,	should	not	be	an	issue	of	‘business’	and	‘watching’.	His	position	ignores	the	reduction	of	people’s	lives	to	a	mere	piece	of	document,	the	resultant	alienation	and	socialpain.	His	belief	placed	on	public	officials	to	ensure	‘accuracy’,	leaves	no	space	to	question	the	process	of	preparingNRC.	An	argument	such	as	this	is	surprising,	since,	for	many	students	of	our	generation	who	became	interested	instudying	the	Northeast,	his	India	against	Itself	taught	us	to	question	the	state	in	the	Northeast.	It	presented	therhetoric	of	state	making,	mired	in	violence.	However,	the	rhetoric	of	suicide	and	a	text	on	Holocaust	is	the	last	thingone	should	compare,	particularly	when	it	lacks	sensitivity	and	love,	which	was	evident	the	manner	in	which	ProfessorBaruah	ended	his	article.South Asia @ LSE: Assam against itself: a reply to Sanjib Baruah Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-03-21Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/03/21/assam-against-itself-a-reply-to-sanjib-baruah/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/Guwahati	at	night.	Photo	credit:Dipayan	Bhattacharjee,	Flickr,	CC	BY-NC-ND	2.0.Professor	Baruah’s	assertion	also	suffers	from	taking	a	linear	view	of	a	very	complex	bureaucratic	and	socialprocess.	In	this	light,	sharing	an	account	written	by	Dr.	Debarshi	Das,	a	faculty	in	IIT	Guwahati,	of	his	own	family.“My	aunt	Putul	was	born	in	Pandu	in	1950s.	Her	parents	came	to	Assam	as	East-Bengali	migrants.	Shegot	married	to	a	muffasil	town	and	after	her	marriage,	her	name	no	more	remained	the	same.	In	her	in-laws	family	there	were	two	other	people	with	the	same	name,	Putul	and	following	from	this	her	name	waschanged	from	Putul	Guha	to	Kabita	Das.	In	2016,	when	police	came	to	enquire	about	the	citizenshipstatus,	they	noticed	the	differences	in	her	pre-	and	post-nuptial	documents.	Without	any	delay	she	wassent	to	detention	camp	at	the	age	of	sixty”.One	of	the	first	proponents	of	detention	or	concentration	camps	in	the	context	of	Northeast	was	S.K.Sinha.	One	canread	his	letter	to	the	President	of	India	dated	8th	of	November	1998.	His	sentiments	echoed	a	large	group	of	ethno-nationalist	that	identified	a	common	enemy	in	Assam—the	Bangladeshi.	Upamanyu	Hazarika,	a	Supreme	Courtlawyer	and	convener	of	the	Prabajan	Virodhi	Manch,	is	another	leading	voice	in	this	thread	of	safeguarding	the	sonof	the	soil	by	creating	imagined	victimhood	which	suppresses	the	actual	victims	as	Prof.	Prasenjit	Biswas	argues.Even	Hiren	Gohain	voiced	his	agreement	to	the	NRC	and	speaks	of	‘legitimacy’	of	citizenship.	Hence,	what	we	alsowished	to	highlight	through	this	reply	is	that	Prof.	Sanjib	Baruah’s	lack	of	a	moral	position	is	not	an	aberration,	as	weall	know	that	even	Hiren	Gohain	sympathises	with	the	legitimate	objective	of	the	Assam	movement,	but	not	itsmethod.	They	are	just	echoing	sentimentalities	that	carry	possibilities	of	violence,	othering,	and	mob	lynching.	Willthere	be	ever	any	room	for	human	security	or	it’s	a	linear	pre-determined	march	towards	a	state	and	thereafter	region(NEI)	consisting	of	a	number	of	concentration	camps	by	different	names?To	conclude,	we	want	to	reiterate	what	Professor	Ashis	Nandy	argued	about	the	master-slave	dialectic.	One	shouldstand	with	the	marginalised	or	the	slave,	not	because	suffering	is	a	superior	experience	or	for	they	work	or	areoppressed,	but	because	the	slave	represents	a	higher	order	cognition	who	treats	the	master	as	‘human’,	as	opposedto	the	master	who	treats	the	slave	as	a	‘thing’.	Arguing	for	camps	is	to	become	players	in	moral	and	cognitiveventures	of	oppression,	or	at	the	very	least,	a	passive	complicit.This	article	gives	the	views	of	the	author,	and	not	the	position	of	the	South	Asia	@	LSE	blog,	nor	of	the	LondonSchool	of	Economics.	Please	read	our	comments	policy	before	posting.About	the	AuthorsSuraj	Gogoi	is	a	doctoral	student	in	Sociology,	National	University	of	Singapore.		South Asia @ LSE: Assam against itself: a reply to Sanjib Baruah Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-03-21Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/03/21/assam-against-itself-a-reply-to-sanjib-baruah/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/Gorky	Chakraborty	is	a	faculty	member	of	Institute	of	Development	Studies	Kolkata	(IDSK).		Parag	Jyoti	Saikia	teaches	at	Asian	University	for	Women,	Chittagong.South Asia @ LSE: Assam against itself: a reply to Sanjib Baruah Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-03-21Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/03/21/assam-against-itself-a-reply-to-sanjib-baruah/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/

Assam against itself: a reply to Sanjib Baruah

http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/89128/1/southasia-2018-03-21-assam-against-itself-a-reply-to-sanjib.pdf

Assam against itself: a reply to Sanjib Baruah

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