Course: Citizenship and National Identity

The majority population consists of the Assamese community, primarily followers of Hinduism. Islam is the second-largest religion, with the Bengali speaking Muslim community forming a significant portion of Assam’s population.

Assam has experienced prolonged ethnic conflicts and identity-driven politics, shaping its immigration policies. The Assam Movement (1979–1985) led to the Assam Accord, which introduced the concept of “illegal migrants” into India’s citizenship laws.

Assam has used two parallel processes to determine Indian citizenship:

• National Register of Citizens (NRC) – An administrative process that excluded 9 million people from its final 2019 list.
• Foreigner’s Tribunal (FT) – A quasi-judicial process that, as of December 2024, declared around 160,000 people as foreigners.

These processes have sparked concerns about their impact on religious minorities, especially Bengali-speaking Muslims, as well as their effects on women and intergenerational citizenship rights.

The Assam Accord was signed on August 15, 1985, between the Government of India and leaders of the Assam Movement to address the issue of illegal immigration. The movement, which lasted from 1979 to 1985, was driven by concerns over the large influx of migrants, particularly from Bangladesh, and its impact on Assamese identity, resources, and political representation.

Key provisions of the Accord included:

• Detection and deportation of illegal migrants who entered Assam after March 24,
• Granting citizenship to those who arrived between 1 January, 1966 and 24 March 1971, but with voting rights delayed for ten years.
• Full citizenship to persons who entered Assam prior to 1 January, 1966.
• Safeguards for Assamese identity, culture, and economic development

The Accord led to the introduction of S.6A in India’s Citizenship Act which was signed into law via the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1985.

Citizenship in Myanmar is linked to ethnic ancestry and ancestral residency before 1823, the start of British colonization according to the 1982 Citizenship Law. The law creates a structured hierarchy of membership by establishing three levels of citizenship: full, associate, and naturalized. The 2008 Constitution reinforces this system, where ethnic identity determines one’s legal status, rights, and political participation.

Myanmar’s National ID cards therefore include information on both ethnic identity, such as Bamar, Karen, Shan, or Mon, and religious identity, such as Buddhist, Christian, or Muslim. To prove ethnic identity, individuals are required to submit ancestral identity documents, a family tree, and household registration records. This process, combined with the disclosure of religious identity, often results in the exclusion of religious minorities within specific ethnic groups.

The Karen community, for example, with its distinct languages, traditions, and cultural practices from the dominant Bamar or Shan communities, is often denied identity documentation due to difficulties in proving ancestral origin. Karens following Christianity and Islam face additional barriers because of their religious affiliation. Newborns are sometimes denied birth certificates, as their parents must present identity documents verifying Burmese origin.

Read more here on the persecution against ethnic and religious minorities in Myanmar.

Despite their long history of habitual residence in the area, the Myanmar government does not recognize them as one of the official “national races”. This community has faced systemic marginalization and state-led discrimination since the 1960s, escalating into widespread violence and mass displacement in subsequent decades.

In 2016 and 2017, violence against the Rohingyas intensified after attacks by a small Rohingya insurgent group. In response, the Myanmar military launched a brutal crackdown involving mass killings, sexual violence, and the destruction of villages. Following this wave of violence, over one million Rohingyas live in Cox’s Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh, the largest refugee settlement in the world. Today, the Rohingyas remain one of the most persecuted minorities globally, deprived of basic rights and caught in a recurring cycle of statelessness, forced displacement, and persistent discrimination, both within Myanmar and beyond its borders.

The case of the Rohingya is also addressed in the course Genocide & Group Hostility, which explores genocide and its distinction from other forms of mass atrocities.

Ethno-nationalism is a form of nationalism that constructs national identity around shared ethnic, cultural, linguistic, or racial traits rather than civic or territorial affiliation.

Identity politics in both Assam, India, and Myanmar, where the ethnic identity of Muslim minorities, particularly Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam and the Rohingya in Myanmar, is frequently contested. These groups are often excluded from national belonging due to dominant narratives that portray them as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. In both India and Myanmar, the colonial period facilitated large-scale migration.

Assam, a culturally diverse region, has a contested and complex history of migration and population movement within and across India’s international borders. Its unique geographical location means it shares borders with not only seven other states in eastern India but also two international boundaries— Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) and Bhutan. During the colonial period, tribal labourers from Central India were brought to work in Assam’s tea plantations, while educated Bengali Hindus filled administrative roles. Bengali Muslim peasants from areas like Mymensingh and Sylhet (present-day Bangladesh) were encouraged to settle in Lower Assam to cultivate land along the Brahmaputra floodplains. These waves of migration in the 19th and 20th centuries were shaped by kinship ties, persecution, trade, and a largely unregulated riverine border.

Following these migration waves, local Assamese communities began expressing concerns about the scale of migration, particularly after the refugee influx from the 1971 Bangladesh war. They claimed this migration diluted the unique Assamese culture and identity, warning that growing migrant populations could eventually turn the indigenous Assamese into a minority. While there have been multiple contestations over the number of immigrants and foreigners in Assam, no credible empirical survey has been conducted to determine an exact figure. While Assamese ethno-nationalism has been a cornerstone of the state’s politics, multiple attempts to define who is considered “Assamese” have failed.

Similarly, Myanmar shares borders with several Southeast Asian countries, including India and Bangladesh. The majority of the Rohingya population has historically lived in Rakhine State, which borders Bangladesh. The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority in Myanmar, where Buddhism holds special status under the Constitution. The history of the Rohingya is contested. Some view them as descendants of Bengali migrants who arrived during British colonization after the First Anglo- Burmese War in 1824. The Rohingya, however, claim ancestral roots in Rakhine dating back to the 8th century, with increased Muslim settlement in the 16th century. Myanmar authorities deny the existence of a distinct Rohingya identity, instead referring to them as “Bengalis,” implying they are illegal migrants from Bangladesh. By the 1960s, the narrative that most Muslims in Rakhine were illegal Bengali immigrants took root, amid growing emphasis on the protection of “national races” and efforts to identify and deport so-called illegal aliens.

Ethno-nationalism has played a critical role in shaping the political landscapes of both India and Myanmar, driven by concerns over cultural preservation, demographic changes, and sovereignty. However, these complex discourses invite critical reflection on the criteria and limits through which belonging to a nation-state is defined and assessed.