Thread by @Smashboard_

There's been a lot of talk on #CAB, some in good faith, some uninformed, others plain bigoted. A thread on this complicated, complex issue that dates back to colonised India (imp to keep this in mind). Views expressed here will be different to yesterday's due to change in curator

There’s a huge difference between an “anti-immigration” sentiment of the bigoted kind by a powerful majority and the resistance to immigration by people whose autonomy over their own land has been historically undermined by people they consider outsiders or oppressors.

For instance, the "anti-immigrant" sentiment among white Europeans against immigrants from countries they had colonized and continue to plunder is bigotry. Or in India- where Muslim citizens are framed as outsiders or immigrants.

But indigenous people in the US are cannot be labeled as “anti-immigration” in the way the Trump administration can. In indigenous history, immigrants were also invaders robbing them of their autonomy and resources. Attempting to preserve your small communities is not bigotry

In the same way, when Assamese people say they don’t want an influx of people, whether Hindu or Muslim, the label “anti-immigration” or “anti-Muslim” to view their positions is the erasure of their own suffering and marginalisation.

This crisis has been festering since colonial times, ignored by mainland & allowed to blow up into the tragedy of #NRC and #CAB. There are genuine concerns that people of NE have & been voicing since decades. Their concern might not be yours but that doesn't make it illegitimate

It is their right to be concerned about being subsumed into languages and cultures that are not theirs.
Assam (and NE) has been a site of violence and suffering. People there have felt unheard and oppressed for long. With no social & political capital, they are marginalised

This doesn’t mean that persecuted or poverty-ridden Muslim immigrants coming to Assam don’t deserve to escape (but they're not the only ones coming in). It does mean that their arrival puts tremendous strain on the people of a state which is already poor and deprived of resources

The issue is not about Muslims, if it were, the entire region wouldn't be burning over a bill that privileges Hindus. The issue is about a small region that's highly vulnerable to unchecked, massive levels of migrations owing to its geographical location.

There are no easy solutions but demonizing an entire region's populace is not it. There's genuine anger against rising fascism and slide towards Hindutva, mainland should channel this movement. At any rate, please refrain from racist smears & xenophobic discourse against NE