Statelessness is defined as the quality of being without a state, a nationality, or even the protection that nationality should offer. Addressing the lacuna in literature on stateless people in post-colonial South Asia, The State of Being Stateless brings together the lived experiences of diverse stateless groups within a comparative framework.
Through research conducted in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan, the book asks some critical questions: How are certain groups and communities—often, the minorities—rendered stateless? Is the existing legal regime adequate to deal with the problem of statelessness? Do policymakers now need to think beyond legal terms, as judicial activism has clearly proved ineffective?
Paula Banerjee is Vice Chancellor, The Sanskrit College and University, Kolkata; and former Director, and member, Calcutta Research Group, Kolkata.
Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury is Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, Kolkata.
Atig Ghosh is Assistant Professor of History, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan; and Honorary Researcher, Calcutta Research Group, Kolkata.
Foreword by Ranabir Samaddar Publisher’s Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations
The Grid: The Stateless and the Citizen Paula Banerjee, Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury and Atig Ghosh
1. Words of Law, Worlds of Loss: The Stateless People of the Indo-Bangladeshi Enclaves Atig Ghosh
2. The Remains of Partition? The Citizenship Question of Stateless Hindus in India Sahana Basavapatna
3. Ordeal of Citizenship: The Up-Country Tamils in Sri Lanka and India Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury
4. The Chinese of Calcutta: A Case of Statelessness Suhit K. Sen
5. The Stateless Chakmas in Arunachal Pradesh Samir Kumar Das and Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury
6. Elusive Home-Thoughts: The Unstable World of the Lhotsampas in South Asia Atig Ghosh and Pravina Gurung
7. Ambiguous Identities: Statelessness of Gorkhas in Northeast India Anup Shekhar Chakraborty and Subhas Ranjan Chakraborty
Bibliography Notes on the Contributors Index