Nullification of citizenship: negotiating authority without identity documents in coastal Odisha, India

Abstract

This paper discusses the case of a community of Bengali immigrant settlers along the coast of Odisha in India at the centre of a unique citizenship controversy. Families have arrived here gradually over the years since 1947, and have generally acquired a range of identity documents from Indian state agencies. These documents certify to a range of rights that signal social and political participation within India: land ownership, voting rights and the receipt of official welfare subsidies. With little warning, a 2005 order by the state government following a high court directive led to the production of a list of 1551 persons, declaring such persons as ‘infiltrators’. The list ostensibly comprises those who have entered India illegally after 1971 or born to parents who entered illegally. While no deportation, as originally intended, has taken place, the nullification of their various documents of citizenship has created a void in their lives. This paper examines the wider politics of the case, especially focusing on how those with nullified documents negotiate the authority of the local state and actors within their own society, and what this reveals about the ever contested nature of citizenship in post-partition India

Certifications of citizenship: the history, politics and materiality of identity documents in South Asian states and diasporas

“…For example, in wanting IDs that could offer them a measure of protection and safety, immigrant workers in Kerala sought to be seen by the state (Prasad-Aleyamma 2017). In willingly going to local state officials to negotiate their position on a ration list, despite their cancelled ration card, we find a similar desire to continue being seen by the state by Bengalis in Odisha (Chhotray 2017). In sitting across the computer from an operator at an Aadhar enrolment centre, the enrolee (Aadhar aspirant) was able to see how the state saw her: 'As the operator fed the software demographic information, the enrolee could read the state reading her, the might of the state temporarily being made available to her' (Nair 2017).…”

Justice at Sea: Fishers’ politics and marine conservation in coastal Odisha, India

“…Eventually a 'united' Bengali-Odiya front formalised into a body called the Utkal Banga Suraksha Samiti (translated as 'Odisha-Bengal Security Committee) or UBSS that organised demonstrations, threatened road blockades in the event of police action and facilitated political attention into this issue. As the years have passed, nothing more has been done by way of 'deporting' those identified, though many people who find themselves on this list have had their identity documents 'nullified' , which is producing other consequences (Chhotray 2016).…”

“…We were also not given any further details about the precise enquiry that led to the production of such a list. The wider politics of the case have been examined elsewhere (Chhotray 2016); and it suffices to mention here that the episode and subsequent reactions revealed various fascinating processes at work, which we will refer to in the next section.…”

Documents for identity: Citizenship impasse in Assam, India

“…The implications of validation and holding of IDs are inherently unstable, both as a technique of governance and as objects to be manipulated primarily because documents are unstable, and the laws and regulations that give them meaning are often incoherent. There are cases when the state may use IDs to identify and then attempt to isolate and expel people by ‘nullifying their documents’ (Chhotray, 2018).…”