A State Of Extremes: Belonging, Erasure In Assam
Dust fills the air where homes used to be, settling on the rubble of walls, utensils scattered across several locations in Assam. They are all different, but the sorrow and misery are the same. Each image shows the demolition of routines, of memory, of belonging. They have lived, rooted to one place, for decades, only to have it all taken away without any warning, leaving behind not just the rubble. Displacement in Goalpara, Jagiroad, Morigaon, Nagaon and Kamrup districts is not always marked by the impossibility of return. At times, the dislocation stretches from demolition to disappearance. There are tales of those with documentation going back decades, with names appearing on electoral rolls prior to 1971, yet they continue to be dislocated, confined, or forced into other territories, with the status of citizenship unclear. These stories traverse space, moving in and out of the landscape, leaving behind families, lives, and fragments of lives lived across borders.
Abdul Karim, Kamrup district | Photo: Suresh K Pandey
Dilwar Sheikh, 55, Hasila Beel | Photo: Suresh K Pandey
Jamiroon, 50, Luptachar | Photo: Suresh K Pandey
Javid Ul Ali, 43, Hasila Beel | Photo: Suresh K Pandey
Mariam Begum, 40 | Photo: Suresh K Pandey
Monowara Khatoon, 60, Lupta Char | Photo: Suresh K Pandey
Shahanur Ali, Hasila Beel | Photo: Suresh K Pandey
Rasila, Andherijuli Rani, Kamrup District | Photo: Suresh K Pandey
Wife of Shahbuddin Ali, Kamrup District | Photo: Suresh K Pandey
Mohida Khatoon, 36 | Photo: Suresh K Pandey
Zamila Khatoon, 55, Hasila Beel | Photo: Suresh K Pandey
Hasila Beel makeshift camp | Photo: Suresh K Pandey
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