Forced Migration and the Plight of the Chakma Refugees in Arunachal Pradesh: ‘Citizenship’ as a Bone of Contention

Abstract

The present paper explores the persistent and contentious issue of citizenship of the Chakma community in Arunachal Pradesh. The Chakmas were originally uprooted from the Chittagong Hill Tracts of former East Pakistan and were resettled in Arunachal Pradesh, formerly known as the North East Frontier Agency (nefa). The forced migration of the Chakma community has implications at different levels and raises critical questions about exclusion, belongingness, citizenship and the various rights which comes with it. The article explores the relationship between refugee identity and citizenship rights to see how this relationship is mediated through denial or extension of state entitlements. Examining the nature of citizenship within this context may help to further uncover how the concept of citizenship is both understood and used today.