Choudhury, Angshuman and Pegu, Manoranjan creator text Economic & Political Weekly monographic eng

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61(18), May 2. 2026: p.10-13 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 liberals and conservatives among the Assamese elite have put forward from time to time as a solution to the “illegal immigration” problem reify the racialised and inhumane regime of labour exploitation that the Bengali Muslims have historically been subjected to.-Reproduced https://www.epw.in/journal/2026/18/commentary/muslims-labour-and-belonging-assam.html Economic & Political Weekly 260518