Solution to Foreigners Issue of Assam: Revisiting Parag Kumar Das’s Unfinished Argument

One of the central axes around which Assam’s politics has revolved for decades is the issue of “illegal immigrants.” Different labels, ‘Miya Muslims’, ‘foreigners’, ‘Bangladeshis’, have been used, but the discourse has largely circled one community: the East Bengal-origin Muslims of Assam.

This issue reached its peak during the Assam Movement (1979-85), which culminated in bloodshed across the state, including the horrific Nellie Massacre of 1983. What began as a movement against illegal immigration slowly took the shape of a movement against an entire community. That movement never truly ended. Even today, the “foreigner issue” remains one of the most potent electoral weapons, used by ruling parties to consolidate power and by the opposition to secure votes.

The history is well known. The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) came to power in 1985 on the wave of the Assam Movement, but soon lost credibility. In 2001, the Congress returned to power, promising solutions to the deportation issue. It was under the Congress that the idea of detention centres in Assam first emerged. Then came the BJP, which made the “illegal immigrant” issue the centrepiece of its politics, projecting itself as the defender of Assamese identity. In the 2021 elections, BJP’s star campaigner Himanta Biswa Sarma went so far as to frame the fight as a battle against the “Mughals” and for the “protection of Assamese identity.” Now, as the 2026 elections approach, the same issue once again dominates Assam’s political discourse.

Legally, the matter is clear: as per the Assam Accord, anyone who entered Assam after March 25, 1971, is a foreigner, regardless of religion. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), however, has altered this framework. Yet, the political narrative disproportionately targets East Bengal-origin Muslims. While there is no doubt that Miya Muslims who migrated post-1971 are foreigners under law, the problem lies in how Indian citizens of the same community are vilified, branded as Bangladeshis, doubted at every step, and socially alienated. Such treatment not only corrodes their sense of belonging but also contradicts the very idea of an inclusive Assamese identity that rests on unity in diversity.

Journalists, intellectuals, and politicians in Assam regularly voice their opinions on immigration. But what is less discussed is the plight of Indian citizens of East Bengal origin, people who have lived in Assam for two or three generations, contributed to Assamese culture and language, and embraced Assamese identity wholeheartedly, yet continue to be branded as outsiders because of their dialect or faith.

The late journalist and human rights activist Parag Kumar Das offered one of the most rational insights into this problem. In his 1987 essay ‘The Reality of Char-Chapori Areas and an Evaluation of the Immigration Issue’ published in ‘Prantik’, Das documented his visit to a riverine area populated largely by East Bengal-origin Muslims. He rejected the reactionary slogans of the day, ‘Khed, Khed, Bangladeshi Khed’ (“Drive out the Bangladeshis”) and argued for a more nuanced approach. While he opposed illegal immigration, he insisted that deporting Indian citizens was not only unjust but also practically impossible.

Das cited several examples. M. Elimuddin, a member of the ‘Assam Sahitya Sabha’ and author of more than 25 Assamese books, had lived in Assam for generations but was still forced to prove his citizenship. Abu Taleb, another man from the riverine areas, organised events in the 1960s promoting Assamese language, only to later be branded as a foreigner by neighbouring Assamese villages. Such instances reveal the paradox of Assamese society: those who embraced Assamese culture most deeply were often the ones vilified as outsiders.

Das warned that such alienation would only deepen social divisions. He did not deny the existence of foreigners in Assam but argued that lumping all East Bengal-origin Muslims together as infiltrators without serious investigation only worsened the problem. Instead of winning their trust and working with them to identify illegal immigrants, Assamese society chose to remain distant and suspicious, creating a no man’s land where rightful citizens and illegal immigrants became indistinguishable in the eyes of the mainstream.

He also reminded readers that the Assam Movement of the 1980s was not originally about “illegal immigrants.” It began as a protest against “outsiders” and the neglect of Assam by Delhi. But when constitutional legitimacy was required, the focus shifted exclusively to the “illegal immigrant” issue. Lacking hard data, exaggerated estimates were circulated, wrongly branding many Indian citizens as foreigners. Once this political narrative took root, it could not be corrected, and the line between citizen and foreigner blurred irreversibly.

The immigrant issue in Assam has long been the bread and butter of politicians. For decades, ordinary people have paid the price for this cynical politics. Today, however, both the new generation of Assamese youth and young East Bengal-origin Muslims have shown the desire to move forward. It is their responsibility to bridge the gap between the two communities and search for a common solution.

Student organisations such as the All Assam Students Union (AASU), which led the Assam Movement, and the All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU), which documents rights violations against minorities, continue to work in silos. They have rarely engaged in dialogue with each other. If Assam is to move beyond its decades-old political stalemate, these organisations and the new generation at large must finally take responsibility for breaking down walls of suspicion and forging a shared future.

The question, then, is not only about identifying and deporting illegal immigrants. It is also about recognising and respecting those Indian citizens who have been unfairly stigmatised for decades. To deny them their rightful place in Assamese society is not just unjust, it is a betrayal of the very idea of Assam.

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