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safeguards to people facing reduced to the status of about citizenship. Roy Assembly, despite differ-
religious persecution, it ‘nowhere people’, often views this as an affirma- ences among members,
denied those safeguards to on tenterhooks, fearing tion of a shared life, and was a shared intention to
certain others because of becoming stateless and a bulwark against divisive challenge discriminatory
their religion. illegal aliens. The Treaty faith-based citizenship. For world views and practices,
Chapter three titled provided for the transfer this new consciousness, and to inaugurate a more
Liminal Citizenship: The of 111 enclaves from India the Indian Constitution enabling society for Indi-
“Returnees” and “New” to Bangladesh and 51 has become an ‘insurgent ans as equal citizens of the
Citizens deals with the enclaves from Bangladesh text’ and a rallying point new Republic.
aftermath of the Land to India. Those residing in for the protests against While affirming this,
Border Agreement (LBA, the enclaves were given the CAA and NRC. This non- Roy’s powerful and moving
2015) that sought to settle right to remain on the ter- violent protest emerged as text compels the reader
border disputes between ritories as nationals of the a site of empowerment and to raise wider questions
India and Bangladesh. State to which the territo- resistance. about what political com-
LBA connected territo- ries were transferred. The constitutional munities owe to persons as
rial borders with political Chapter four is titled vision of citizenship was humans, not merely as le-
sovereignty, provided for Recalling Citizenship: The a response to discrimina- gally recognised members
the exchange of enclaves, Constitutional Ethic. Roy tory practices that Indians of their states. There are
and land in ‘adverse pos- affirms that while recent faced: religious and caste many layers of belonging,
session’. These enclaves changes in citizenship supremacism, untouch- which cannot be all com-
were patches of land laws have caused fissures ability, racial suprema- pressed into only legal-
belonging to one nation- within Indian society and cism of European colo- administrative categories.
state but were situated produced a regime at odds nialism, and separatism This book is as much about
inside the territory of the with the constitutional that emerged out of the regimes and regulations,
other. Those residing in vision of inclusive citizen- two-nation theory which as about civilian resistance
the enclaves were dissoci- ship, these changes have led to the partition of the in our Republic.
ated from the exercise of also resulted in a more country. What was radical SWAHA SWETAMBARA
‘effective citizenship’ and intense consciousness about our Constituent DAS (The Book Review)

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