ABSTRACT
The definition and the scope of the citizen and citizenship has always hinged on territorialist epistemologies, determined by the state. Accordingly, this identity of the citizen is steeped in deep cartographic and demographic anxieties. In this context, the figure of the ‘outsider’ emerges as the representation of these anxieties. The chapter highlights the centrality of the outsider in the construction of the citizenship discourse in the Indian and South Asian contexts and points out why the centrality of the outsider necessitates the creation of a ‘liminal’ zone of exchange. The outsider in the discourse of postcolonial nationalism assumes an essential role in the overarching project of nation formation as the credibility of the nation state as a viable social and territorial entity is contingent on its ability to locate and differentiate the outsider. The chapter further delves into the complications created by the presence of the varying discourses of nationalism within Indian nationalism. These complications have been particularly acute in borderlands, where the outsider is created in order to teach the nation about the threat that it emanates to the territorial integrity of the state. In this context, the authors highlight the recent developments in the state of Assam, where a move towards the creation of the newly emerging category of the singular non-citizen seems imminent.
