IMMIGRATION, ETHNIC ASSERTION AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN POST COLONIAL ASSAM

Abstract: Assam, the most populous state of North East India has been experiencing different complex problems since the colonial period. But the problem which played the dominant role in creating the sense of ethnic assertion, identity movements and large-scale human rights violation is the problem of immigration. The problem of immigration has drawn the attention of not only the social scientists, political leaders, academicians, human rights activists and the civil society and the international community for a long period. The reasons for the perpetuation of this problem cannot be understood without addressing the phenomena of ethnic and linguistic plurality, colonial legacy and the partition of the sub–continent on the basis of religion in 1947. Considering this backdrop in the present study an attempt has been made to focus on the issues of immigration, partition, identity assertion, and human rights violations in post-colonial Assam.