The AGP has to face up to this new political reality. Consider the alliance with the BJP. Letting the BJP keep its seats in the refugee-dominated Bengali-speaking Barak Valley strongholds may appear to make electoral sense. But it cannot help build trust among the immigrant Muslim community.  

Assamese memories of Partition collide with those in the rest of the country.  Opposition to immigration from East Bengal began in the 1930s and shaped Assamese attitudes toward Partition. Once Sylhet is separated from Assam and it becomes a part of East Pakistan, it was hoped that Assam’s ethno-political balance would stabilise in favour of the locals. That did not happen.  

Yet until the Assam-specific amendment of Indian citizenship laws in 1986, the Assam Movement’s definition of a foreigner was consistent with the legal definition of Indian citizenship. However, it is possible that in their heart of hearts few Indians are willing to accept the idea that Hindu East Bengalis are foreigners in India, irrespective of their date of arrival. The BJP is only the most active proponent of this view. 

Despite the recent talk of the security risks emanating from India’s porous eastern border, the country is generally unwilling to hear about the failure of Partition in the east. Labelling the border international — and adding the qualifier “illegal” to describe one set of immigrants — did not suddenly stem the tide of poor people crossing the border. This relatively sparsely populated region, after all, was legally seen as a frontier, ie, open for new settlements, during colonial rule.  

... contd.