Refugees, Citizenship and Belonging in South Asia

193 Pages·2018·1.889 MB·English

by  Nasreen Chowdhory

Nasreen Chowdhory
Refugees,
Citizenship and
Belonging in
South Asia
Contested Terrains
Refugees, Citizenship and Belonging in South Asia
Nasreen Chowdhory
Refugees, Citizenship
and Belonging in South Asia
Contested Terrains
123
Nasreen Chowdhory
Department ofPolitical Science
University of Delhi
NewDelhi
India
ISBN978-981-13-0196-4 ISBN978-981-13-0197-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0197-1
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I dedicate this book to
Abbu and Ammu…
Acknowledgements
My initial interest in refugee studies began at South Asian Studies, School of
International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. I remain grateful to my
teachersProf.KalimBahadur,Prof.S.D.Muni,Prof.P.Sahadevan,Prof.UmaSingh
andProf.M.P.Lama.AtMcGillUniversityIwouldliketoexpressmygratitudeto
Prof.T.V.Paul,Prof.JulietJohnson,Prof.N.Subramanian,Prof.RexBrynenand
Prof.ChristopherManfredi.
Duringthefieldwork,Iwasfortunatetoreceivehelpfromallquartersespecially
in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India. With regard to Sri Lanka, I would like to
express my deep gratitude to Dr. John Gooneratne, the former Director of Sri
LankanGovernment’sSecretariatforCoordinatingthePeaceProcess;NeilWright,
the UNHCR, Sri Lanka and other staff members for organizing my initial visits to
Vavuniya and Mannar. My appreciation is also extended to UNHCR Vavuniya
Senior Field Officer Arasu Karthigesu and Field Officer Madhavan; Raga
Alphonsus and his family, coordinator of ZOA Refugee Care of Netherlands in
Mannar and Manohar, and his excellent staff members, in particular Soira in
Madhukarai.
IamgratefulforthekindcooperationofthePrimeMinister’sOfficeinColombo
andtheofficialsthere,notablyMr.BradmanWeerakoon,fortakingtimeoutoftheir
busy schedules to grant me interviews. I am also thankful for the assistance given
byvariousindividualsandinstitutions,Dr.JayalathJayawardena,theHon.Minister
of Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Refugees; Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Ketheeswaram,
Project Director–Rehabilitation and Reconstruction; Mr. Viswaligum, Government
AgentinVavuniyaandMannar;Mr.A.A.Edward,CoordinatorofReconstruction
of North and Tamil Affairs in the Northeast, and various non-governmental orga-
nizations (NGOs), including the Danish Refugee Council; S. Ravindran, Regional
Coordinator,HumanRightsCommissionofSriLanka;JeevanThiagarajah;andthe
staff of Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies. I am very grateful to Iqbal Athas;
Jayadeva Uyangoda, Centre for Policy Research and Analysis; Mr. Ketesh
Loganathan, Director Rehabilitation, Resettlement Secretariat; and various mem-
bers of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress. I deeply appreciate various others who
vii
viii Acknowledgements
chosetoremainanonymousinhelpingmeunderstandthe‘other’perspectiveinthe
deeply divided Sri Lankan ethnic conflict.
WithregardtoBangladesh,IwouldliketobeginbythankingDr.SadekaHalim
and family; Raja Devasish Roy in Rangamati; Dr. Meghna Guhatakurta;
Mr. Shantu Larma, President of Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sangha Samiti;
Mr. Upendra Lal Chakma, President of the Jumma Refugees Welfare Association;
MrinalKantiChakma;localmembersinKhagracharridistrict;andvariousChakma
refugeesinDighinala.IalsogreatlyvaluethehelpextendedbyFaruqueandFattah
during my stay in Bangladesh.
In Tripura, I am extremely grateful to Nagaraju, Thai, and the district admin-
istration in Agartala, Udaipur and Sabroom. In Tamil Nadu, I extend my appreci-
ationtoProf.V.Suryanarayan;CommissionerofRehabilitation;theDepartmentof
Rehabilitation; Mr. S. C. Chandrahasan of OFERR, Bala N. Devi, Superintendent
of Police of Tiruvannamali; Pravin Kumar, Superintendent of Police of Karim
Nagar;andtheDistrictMagistrateofTiruvannamalai.Inaddition,Iwishtoexpress
my deep gratitude to Tamil refugees in Abdullapuram, the President and other
members in Gumudpundi camp, Elathur camp, Kondam camp, Adi-Annamalai
camp, Poodupattur camp in Nimanelli camp, Tiruputtur camp Vellore district and
Thapathy camp in Tamil Nadu. Also, I would like to mention various medical
officers involved in caregiving of Tamil refugees and those in special camps.
IammuchobligedtotheCommonwealthScholarshipandFellowshipPlanthat
greatlyfacilitatedmydissertationprocess.Abigthankyougoestothecooperative
staff members of the Political Science Department at McGill University, and I
appreciate the assistance of Helen Wilicka, Angie Copolla, Emelia Scognomiglio,
and the late Susan Bartlett.
The list would be incomplete without the names of friends and family. My
father, Azharul Islam Chowdhury always encouraged me to complete all tasks
and had immense faith in everything that is good. My mother’s demise in 2016
tookthelightoutofme,butherconstantpresenceinspiredtheworktocompletion.
In my sister, Parveen Chowdhury I have a mentor. To J. A. Chowdhury, my
brother-in-law, I express my deep sense of gratitude. My dearest nephew Amaan
Chowdhury, the youngest in the family, enthused and enabled the process. To my
husband Adlul Islam I remain grateful for his encouragement. Both, cahoots
engaged ineverydayconspiracy tokeeptabonmyday-to-day progress!The work
would not have been possible without their constant care and love.
Friendshave beenan integral part andItake this opportunitytomentiona few.
Thank you Gopika Solanki for being so caring and sharing a beautiful
friendship. To Suranjan Weeraratne I found a great friend, who made everything
possible with his infectious smile. To Nergis Canafe, Michele Millard, Galya
Ben-Arieh, Meherun Ahmed, Shahana Chowdhury, Subuhi Ansari and Pedro for
being supportive and caring as ever. To Biswajit Mohanty, Raman Singh,
P. V. Ramana, Fatima Feedat, Dolores Chew, Sree Muley, Daya, Peter, Gisele,
Sanjida, Mrithunjoy Mohanty and Sumona Dasgupta I would like to express my
appreciation for their friendship, hospitality and kindness.
Acknowledgements ix
I appreciate the help and support provided by my colleagues and friends at the
Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, Prof. Navnita C. Behera,
Prof. N. Sukumar, Prof. Ujjwal K. Singh, Prof. Madhulika Banerjee and Prof.
RekhaSaxena. AtCalcutta ResearchGroupmyheartfeltgratitudetoProf.Ranabir
Samaddar and Prof. Paula Banerjee.
ThetaskwillbeincompleteifIdonotacknowledgethebrightgraduatescholars
at the Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, Namreeta Kumari,
Sabur Ali M., Shamna T. P., Dhivya Sivaramane and Meghna Kajla.
Lastly, I thank Shinjini Chatterjee, executive editor, Human Sciences, Springer
(SouthAsiaandMiddleEast)fortheinterestshehasshowninpublishingthisbook.
I also thank the anonymous reviewers for their invaluable comments.
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Outline of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Overview of the Chapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2 The Idea of ‘Belonging’ and Citizenship Among Refugees:
Some Theoretical Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Idea of Belonging: A State-Centric View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Problems of Belonging: Construction and Reconstruction of ‘Home’
in Refugee Narratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
The Idea of Being Here or There in Refugee Studies: The Refugee
Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
The International Refugee Regime: When to Return Refugees. . . . . . . . 25
What Explains Belonging of Refugees in South Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3 State Formation, Marginality and Belonging: Contextualizing
Rights of Refugees in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. . . . . . . . . . 43
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
State Formation and the Politics of Marginalization in India,
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
The Question of Belonging in South Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Understanding Refugee Rights in India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Refugee Experiences in India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Repatriation Policies in India. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
xi
xii Contents
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4 The Politics of Accommodation and the Rights of Tamils
in Sri Lanka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Competing Narratives of Tamils in Sri Lanka. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Political Persecution and Peace Initiatives to Bring Tamil
Refugees ‘Home’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
‘Narrative of Life’ of Tamil Returnees in Sri Lanka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Refugee Narratives I: Vavuniya and Mannar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Refugee Narrative II: Twice Displaced in Vavuniya
and Mannar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
An Analysis of Return: Loss of ‘Home’ or Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Relocations of Tamil Returnee-Refugees in Madhukarai,
Sri Lanka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
5 The Policies of Belonging in Bangladesh: The Chakma Refugees
in the Chittagong Hill Tracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
The Churning of Politics in Bangladesh: Bengali Identity Versus
Pahari Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
The Genesis Chakma Refugees in India. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Impact of Peace Process on Chakma/Pahari Returnees . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Chakma Refugees’ Search for ‘Home’ in Khagracharri . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Chakma Returnees in Dighinala. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
6 Issues of Inclusion and Citizenship in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh:
A Comparative Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Peace Process in the Narrative of Refugees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
The Effect of Peace Accord Versus End of War on Returnees. . . . . . 150
Devolution of Power and Politics of Exclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Strategies to Accommodate Refugees in Sri Lanka
and Bangladesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Re-instatement of Land. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Politics Over Ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Citizenship Rights of Returnees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Refugee Perspective of ‘Home’ and ‘Homeland’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Understanding ‘Home’ in Homeland? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164