Displacement, integration and identity in the postcolonial world

Abstract

Defining the relationship between displaced populations and the nation-state is a fraught historical process. The Partition of India in 1947 provides a powerful example. However markedly little attention has been paid to the refugee communities produced (Ansari, 2005). Using the case of the displaced 'Urdu-speaking minority' in Bangladesh this article considers what contemporary discourses of identity and integration reveal about the nature and boundaries of the nation-state. It reveals that the language of 'integration' is embedded in colonial narratives of 'population' versus 'people-nation' which structure exclusion not only through language and ethnicity, but poverty and social space. It also shows how colonial and postcolonial registers transect and overlap as colonial constructions of 'modernity' and 'progress' fold into religious discourses of 'pollution' and 'purity'. The voices of minorities navigating claims to belonging through these discourses shed light on a 'nation-in-formation': the shifting landscape of national belonging and the complicated accommodations required.

‘Wish to Dream’ Fulfilment: the Motivations for Onward Migration

“…They were already in control of the domestic economy and, as mothers, they had secured their place in the family and operated in a partially autonomous world (Ballard, 1982). These women thus comprise part of a self-segregated group in which women guarantee the authenticity of religious practice, habits, traditions, culture, and language (Redclift, 2015).…”

“…For example, it was found that after various political changes, in 1988, Islam became the religion of the Bangledeshi state creating a Bengali Muslim identity along with a 'Bengali' linguistic and cultural tradition that became the core around which 'cultural integration' rotates for Bangladeshis. Therefore, it can be said that Bangladeshi identity is based on language and religion wherever Bangladeshis move to, affecting their integration into wider society wherever they decide to settle (Redclift, 2015;Brubaker, 2013.…”

Re-bordering Camp and City: ‘Race', Space and Citizenship in Dhaka

“…The rich have become richer, educating their children in universities overseas, or migrating again themselves, and the camp residents, without access to education and discriminated against in terms of employment, have become poorer. Marked by 'race', then, ethnic identities are not only articulated through the perception of biological difference such as skin colour and height, but the physical expression of poverty too (see Redclift, 2015).…”

The demobilization of diaspora: history, memory and ‘latent identity’

“…The 'Biharis' who stayed in Bangladesh have lost their connections to Pakistan and Bangladesh has become their home (Redclift 2015). However, Pakistan remains a 'homeland' to those who left the country.…”

“…These present-day political conditions, the long durée of conflict, have other consequences. Today, the term 'Bihari' is widely associated with the camps themselves, camps that have become synonymous with the poverty that 37 years of statelessness and segregation have produced (Redclift 2015). The stigma associated with the camps contributes to demobilization in the diaspora.…”