The matter of migrants

Bangladeshi 'infiltration' is a common bugbear among right-wing politicians in what the Northeast refers to as the 'mainland'

Assam’s future — and, indeed, India’s — looks even more troubled now that the first list of “citizens” has come out in that state and millions of people who expected to be on it are not. I do not intend to rehearse the long and winding history of the “foreigner” crisis in Assam, which has led to years of insurgency and some truly awful massacres, such as Nellie. I will merely point out two things. First, that for many in Assam, this is an ethno-nationalist question: All Bengalis are suspect. And second that, for many in the rest of India,