Negotiating Borders and Borderlands, edited by Gorky Chakraborty and Supurna Banerjee, delves into the intricate dynamics of India’s borders and the everyday experiences of those living in its borderlands. It features a diverse collection of articles contributed by various authors, aiming to analyze and portray how borders have influenced the destiny of countries and their inhabitants. In contrast to a statist approach to border studies, the book focuses deliberately on the lives of individuals and emphasizes the complexity and diversity of India’s border regions. This is an important angle to take, given the politically contentious state of affairs along India’s borders, coverage of India’s borderlands tends to be focused around security and defense, ignoring the millions of people who live along India’s borders and how border policy shapes and impacts their lives.
The book is divided into five sections, each offering a mix of historical analysis, contemporary political analysis, and anthropological insights and exploring a border region: that of India and Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burma and China respectively and , and a final fifth section dedicated to invisible or internal borders within India. The latter section delves into topics such as demographic divisions within Calcutta after the 1947 influx of refugees, the experiences and challenges Kuki migrants from Indias Northeast region face in Delhi. These migrants face discrimination and are often seen as “other” or non-Indian, even struggling to cook their own food in their homes without facing harassment or eviction from landlords due to the “alien smells” of such foods. The final section of the book closes with an overview of local histories of borders and the indigenous methods employed to circumvent them.
Partition plays an unsurprisingly significant role in the book, as it created new borders anunleashed a wave of violence that continues to influence not only Indian-Pakistani relations but also the broader South Asian political landscape. The legacies of Partition are visible in the continued border restrictions, territorial enclaves, and limitations on movement that remain today. Yet Partition is not the dominant theme, as the book also examines borders that were not established as a result of partition, such as the Myanmar border (established in 1937) and the China-India border. The Indo-Burma borderland is described as a space where colonial and postcolonial states carried out “political surgery”, resulting in fragmented borderlands and the dismemberment of ethnic communities such as the Zo and Mizo who live on both sides of the Indo-Burma border.
Other chapters explore the precarious lives of Hindus, Sikhs, and Christians in Sindh province, Pakistan, who chose not to move to India during Partition. The book also examines the contested borderland of Indian-administered Kashmir, shedding light on the lives of individuals affected by increased militarization and conflict along the Line of Control. It discusses the impact of cross-border attacks, artillery, and landmines on ordinary people. The book also dives into colonial government policies regarding the delineation of frontier tracts in Arunachal Pradesh along the Chinese border. Sections on invisible borders explore social divisions and hierarchies in West Bengal, particularly between locals and migrants from East Pakistan, which led to tensions and riots in the 1950s.
The book addresses the contentious issue of migration in Assam and the complex relationships between Assamese and Bengalis, including those who migrated from both India and East Pakistan after 1947. It delves into how these issues dominate Assamese politics today. The book also examines the lives of Bangladeshis living in enclaves, small strips of land surrounded by India but not connected to the rest of Bangladesh that arose during the rushed mapmaking of Partition, where they must illegally enter India to sustain their livelihoods. These individuals live in a “bordered existence”, residing in a micro-Bangladesh with minimal government presence, resulting in a lack of social security and support for those stuck in a precarious existence.
The book also explores various aspects of border life, from cross-border trade to cultural exchanges, highlighting the resilience of social networks that transcend borders. It showcases how stories, music, lyrics, and indigenous legends can bridge boundaries, and discusses how these cross-border networks can have both positive and negative consequences, including facilitating smuggling activities.
Negotiating Borders and Borderlands strikes a balance between academic theory and journalistic insights. While grounded in solid theoretical foundations, it remains highly readable and offers fresh perspectives, anecdotes, and facts. It incorporates personal recollections and family histories to provide a more intimate understanding of the subject matter.
It is worth noting that regrettable the absence of chapters on the Nepal-India and the Bhutan-India borders, as their inclusion would have provided useful contrasts to the other heavily militarized borders discussed in the book. Nevertheless, the book manages to offer a comprehensive overview of current theoretical and literary contributions to the study of borders in India.