Bengali Muslims’ labour value, recognised by large sections of the Assamese elite as the key to Assam’s economic development, has not automatically aided their social inclusion. The “Miya” labourer remains stuck in an intensifying framework of racialised exploitation, social marginalisation and political disenfranchisement. They continue to be otherised as “illegal foreigners” and demographic threats to Assamese society. Some of the propositions for a “work permit regime” that both........

© EPW