Dr. Binayak Dutta

Designation: Assistant Professor

Department: History

Qualifications:

M.A., L.L. B, Ph.D

Area of Interest/Specialization:

Modern India, Partition of India, Displacement/Migration, Citizenship in North-East India.

Experience: 15 years 9 months.

Ph.D Awarded/ Supervised:  3 (Three) Awarded.

Academic Affiliations:

  • Life Member of North East India History Association, Shillong.
  • Life Member of Institute of North East India Studies, Kolkata.
  • Life Member of Folk-lore Society of Assam, Guwahati.
  • Life Member of Assam Research Society, Guwahati.
  • Member of Bangiya Sahitya Parishad, Shillong.

Research Projects

  1. a part of the UGC-SAP-DSA II  project of the Department of History where his project is entitled ‘ From Partition to Partition: A study of politics and impact of Partition on North-East India ( 1947-71).
  2. Borders, Identities and the Predicament of Citizenship in Post Colonial Assam (1947-2005) –sanctioned by OKDISCD, Guwahati as part of a broad study on Transformation of the Region: From Colonialism to the Contemporary Phase.

Publications

Books- Single Authored/Co-Authored

  1. Madhuri Choudhury’s Rani Laxmipriya Devi aruBeltolarItihas: Engendering a Family and social  History of Beltola Raj ( Tranlation) DVS Publishers, Guwahati, 2017 ISBN -93-978-86839-14-6
  2. History of Judiciary in Assam: Law, Law Courts and Lawyers, DVS Publishers, Guwahati, 2013 ISBN-978-81-86307-76-2
  3. Religion in Politics: Eastern India 1905-1947, Pilgrims Publishing, Varanasi: Delhi, 2009, ISBN – 978-81-7769-828-2
  4. Dutta, (2020), Recovering the ‘Other Side of Silence’: Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 and the refugee versus immigrant discourse of post-colonial Assam, AsConMonograph 005, Shillong,  ISBN-978-81-946517-0-3.

Articles in Journals (Single Authored)

  1. ‘ChauriChaura: Violence vs Gandhian Non-Violence’, Gandhi Marg, Vol. 31,No. 3, Oct-Dec 2009 pp.532-539, ISSN: 0016-4437
  2. ‘From History to Lore: An interesting Anecdote from the Sylhet Referendum 1947’, Janakristi: Annual Research Journal of Folklore Society of Assam, Vol. 3 ,No. 1-3,  2009- 10,  pp. 78-86  ISSN: 0974-6188
  3. ‘Forgotten Land, Forsaken People: Sylheti Women’s Tales and the partition of colonial North-East India’, The IUP Journal of History and Culture: Special issue on Partition of India, Vol.IV No.3 July 2010, pp 64-77, ISSN: 0973-8517
  4. ‘The Last Battle for Pakistan: Islamic Mobilization and Partition Movement in Colonial Assam, 1947’, Assam University Journal: Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol.VI No.1 January 2011, pp 63-72, ISSN: 0973-4821
  5. ‘Oral Narratives: Expanding the Horizons of Historical Studies in North-East India’, Janakristi: Annual Research Journal of Folklore Society of Assam, Vol. 2 ,No. 5-6,  2011- 12,  pp. 63-69  ISSN: 0974-6188
  6. ‘Recovering Sylhet: The Loss and the recovery of the history of Sylhet and a close look at partition historiography in contemporary India’, Himal Southasian, Kathmandu, 22nd November, 2012, ISSN: 1012-9804.
  7. ‘Violent Parting: Recovering the History of Violence in Sylhet on partition and After (1947-1950)’, Aitihya: The Heritage, Vol. IV ,No. 1,  2013,  pp. 20-36,  ISSN: 2229-5399
  8. ‘No Immigrant Must Be Allowed to Settle’: Mymensinghi Immigration and the Making of Assam Land and Revenue Regulation (Ammendment ) Act of 1947’, Social Change and Development, Vol.X, No.1,January 2013, pp.60-71, ISSN 0975-4016
  9. ‘The Assam Code: Locating Law as the Instrumentality of Governance in Colonial Assam’, Man and Society: A Journal of North-East Studies, Vol.X, Winter.2013pp.63-78, ISSN 2229-4058
  10. ‘Pakistan Movement in the Colonial Frontier: Muslim League Conspiracy and mobilization in colonial Assam’,The Journal of Social Science and Humanity Research: An Interdisciplinary Referred International Journal, Vol.II, No. 1, Jan-June, 2014, pp. 53-69, ISSN-2321-8908
  11. ‘The Past as Present: Partition in Assam politics during independence and beyond,’ Dialogue: Quarterly Vol.16. No.1, July –September, 2014, pp. 160-72, ISSN-0973-0095
  12. ‘Event, Memory and Lore: Anecdotal History of Partition in Assam’, The NEHU Journal, Vol.XII, No.2, July-Dec.2014,pp.61-76,  ISSN- 0972-8406
  13. ‘The ‘Stout fanatical Muhammadan’and Mullan;s burden: The History of Bengali Immigration in Colonial Assam (1871-1931)’ , Man and Society: A Journal of North-East Studies, Vol.XI, Winter.2014, pp.70- 85, ISSN 2229-4058
  14. ‘Invented Tradition and Partition Mobilization in colonial Assam’, Journal of History and Culture, Vol.II, 2015, pp. 102-112, ISSN-2348-3830.
  15. ‘All for Neighbour’s Sake: Cachar, Partition of India and Politics of Refugee Rehabilitation 1947-1953’, Northeast Researches, Vol.VII, March 2016, pp. 74-88, ISSN- 2249-4456
  16. ‘Pakistan Movement and communalization of the Peasants in Colonial Assam’, Vidyasagar University Journal of History, Vol.V. 2016-2017, pp107-118, ISSN- 2321-0834
  17. ‘The Forgotten Partitions of Northeast India and its lingering legacies’ (co-author) Cafe Dissensus, New York, Issue 38, 2017, ISSN: 2373-177X
  18. ‘A Legacy of Divided Nations’: Partitions and the Making of North-Eastern India from Colonial to Post-Colonial Times,’ Summerhill, Vol. XXIV, No.1(Summer 2018), Shimla, ISSN: 0972-1452
  19. ‘Muted Voices and Gendered Memories: Some Notes on violent uprooting from partitioned Assam’, Cafe Dissensus, New York, Issue 44, 2018, ISSN: 2373-177X
  20. ‘Partition and the Citizenship Imbroglio in North- East India’, Asian Journal of Development Matters, Vol.12, No1(1) Special Issue, June 2018, pp229-240, ISSN 0973-9629
  21. ‘The Illusive Indian: The predicament of determining citizens between politics and the Law in Assam’, EastWind, Vol.15,No 1, Nov2018-Jan.2019, pp16-27
  22. ‘Understanding North-Eastern India Partitions in light of the Look-East/Act- East Policy’ Man and Society: A Journal of North-East Studies, Vol.XVI, Winter.2019, ISSN 2229-4058
  23. ‘The Long Shadow of Partition and the Predicament of Citizenship in Post-Colonial Assam,’ Dialogue: Quarterly Vol.21. No.1, July –September, 2019, pp. 45-55, ISSN-0973-0095
  24. ‘Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019: Redeeming the Promise of Partition in Assam,’ Dialogue: Quarterly Vol.22. No.2, October-December, 2020, pp. 40-47, ISSN-0973-0095

Articles in Edited Books

  1. ‘Trends in Indian Nationalism: Regionalism an obvious derivative’, N. Malla (ed) Nationalism Regionalism and the Philosophy of National Integration, Regency Publications, New Delhi, 1998. Pp. 196-213. ISBN 81-86030-74-3
  2. ‘Presentation I’, J. B. Bhattacharjee,(ed) Roots of Insurgency in North-East India, Akansha Publishing House, New Delhi, 2007. Pp. 31-36. ISBN 978-81-8370-138-9
  3. ‘Disempowered Gender: Status of Women in North-East India’, S.Sengupta, S.Nessa and S.Dasgupta (ed) Dynamics of Gender Disparity: North East Lens, EBH Publishers, Guwahati, 2015, pp. 23-30, ISBN 978-93-83252-47-3
  4. ‘Fictionalizing History, Historicizing Pain: Bengal Partition 1947 in Verse and Rituparno’s Sab Charitro Kalponik-2008’,  AmitavaChatterjee (ed)People at Large: Popular Culture in Modern Bengal,SetuPrakashani, Kolkata, 2012, pp. 56-66, ISBN 978-93-80677-34-7
  5. ‘Constructing Colonial Masculinity through Everyday Life: Narrating the practice of game as sports among European Officers of North-East India’, Amitava Chatterjee, People at Play: Sports, Culture and Nationalism, Setu Prakashani, Kolkata/Delhi, 2013, pp.150-160, ISBN 978-93-80677-46-0
  6. ‘Creation of Sacred Spaces: Communal Mobilization and Map making in Colonial  North-East India’, A.K. Baruah and Susmita Sen Gupta (ed) Social Forces and Politics in North-East India, DVS Publishers, Guwahati, 2013, pp. 177-190, ISBN 978-81- 86307-68-7
  7. ‘Forgotten Lands, Forsaken Men: Provincialism, Partition and Sylheti ’GovernmentServnts’ in post-partition Assam’, Amitava Chatterjee, (ed) Gender and Modernity, Setu Prakashani, Kolkata/Delhi, 2015,pp. 31-48, ISBN- 978-93-80677-74-3
  8. ‘Under the Shadow of Violence: Ethnicity, Communalism and Displacement in East Pakistan’, Saji Varghese(ed) Globalization and Cultural Pluralism: Challenges and Possibilities, Akansha Publishing House, Delhi/Guwahati, 2016, pp,62-78, ISBN-978-81-8370-471-7
  9. ‘Of People, Land and Laws: Colonialism, Immigration and the History of Land Laws in Assam’, H. Srikanth and Rooplekha Borgohain (ed) Ethnicity and Political Economy in NorthEast India, DVS Publishers, Guwahati, 2016, pp. 121-145, ISBN- 978-81-86307-91-5
  10. ‘Images of the Home and the World in Conflict and Beyond: A View through a Gendered Lens’, Manorama Sharma (ed) Rethinking Gender History: Essays on Northeast India and Beyond, DVS Publisher, Guwahati/ New Delhi, 2017, pp. 239-260, ISBN-978-93-85839-18-4
  11. ‘Challenging Times, Challenged Body: Decolonization, Displacement and Disease among East Pakistani Refugees in South Assam, 1947-1954’, Sajal Nag (ed) Playing With Nature: History and Politics of Environment in North-east India, Manohar, New Delhi, 2017, pp. 255-272, ISBN-978-93-5098-135-1
  12. ‘Collapse of a Colonial Cosmopolity’, Preeti Gill and Samrat (ed) Insider-Outsider: Belonging and Unbelonging in Northeast India, Amaryllis, New Delhi, 2018,pp. 47-63, ISBN-978-93-88241-35-9
  13. ‘The Story of the Stout Fanatical Mahomedan: Bengali Peasant Immigration and ‘Wastelands’ in colonial Assam’, Sajal Nag and IshratAlam (ed) Blending Nation and Region: Essays in Honour of Late Professor AmalenduGuha, Primus Books, Delhi, 2018, pp 426-439, ISBN- 978-93-86552-73-0
  14. ‘Recovering a Forgotten Partition: Decolonization, displacement and memories of Home and uprooting in post-colonial Assam’, Amit Ranjan (ed) Partition of India: Postcolonial Legacies, Routledge India, London/New York, 2019, pp. 91-104, ISBN-978-0-367-24731-7
  15. ‘Sylhet Gonovote: Muslim League –JamiyatSanghat o PakistanerSeshJudhho’, Prasun Burman, Deshbhag- Deshtyag: Prosongo Uttor Purbo Bharat, VickyPublishers,Guwahati, 2013 pp. 75-87, ISBN-978-93-82250-75-3 ( In Bengali)

Seminars and Conferences Attended with Papers: 

The Sixth Schedule and the Tribes of North-East India

National Seminar on Inclusive Development – Bridging the Gap
7th and 8th June, 2013

Resource Person

Department of Social Work, St.Edmund’s College, Shillong

Signficance of Swami Vivekanda: His life and Times

153rd Birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, 12th January, 2016

Invited Lecture

IGNOU-Regional Centre, Shillong ,

Maximal State and Marginal Men: re-narrating partition of India and the lives of displaced Sylhetis in post-colonial Assam

International Conference on narrativizing the Margins: North East India and Beyond, 4th-6th January, 2012

Presented a paper

Department of English, Assam University, Diphu Campus

Nobody’s land Nobody’s Child: Cachar, Partition of India and the Politics of Refugee Rehabilitation

National Conference on Partition and North East India, 25th-26th March, 2011

Presented a paper

Department of Political Science, Assam University, Silchar

Uprooted in Silence

International Conference on changing Patriarchies and Gendered Constructs: Gender History in North-East India, 18th-20th January, 2012

Presented a paper

Department of History, Assam University, Silchar

From the Trove of Life: Women’s tales of partition and displacement in north-east India

National Conference on Narratives of Migration and Memory in Assam, 4th-6th January, 2012

Presented a paper

Department of English and foreign Languages, Tezpur University

Between Agriculture and Culture: Immigration and the Angst of the Assamese Middle Class

National Conference on Understanding Agrarian History in North-East India, 11th-13th March, 2012

Presented a paper

Department of History, Dibrugarh University and ICHR-NERC

Political Islam in the Colonial Periphery: Ulama and Assam Politics 1946-47

National Seminar on Understanding Religion and Society in North-East India

Presented a Paper

Department of History, Dibrugarh University

The History of the Sylhet Referendum: Narratives beyond Archives

International Seminar on Exploring Historical Traditions in India, 5th-6th February,2015.

Presented a Paper

Department of History, Assam University, Silchar.

Remembering Partition: Decolonization, Displacement and memories of uprooting in post-colonial Assam

National Seminar on Doing Oral History: Folklore Memory and Tradition 11th and 12th September, 2016

Presented a Paper

Centre for Tribal Studies; Assam University, Diphu Campus, Diphu

Nehru’s Bewilderment and Elwin’s exclusion: managing Tribal Areas and North-Eastern Indian Tribal Policy

National Seminar on Developing the Tribal: Situating North-East India
9th and 10th march, 2012

Presented a Paper

Centre for Tribal Studies; Assam University, Diphu Campus, Diphu

Regional Forces and Regional Politics in Meghalaya: A Study

National Seminar on Identity Politics, Ethnic Movements and Regionalism in the context of India’s North-East
24th -25th March, 2017

Presented a Paper

OKD Institute of Social Change and Development, Guwahati

Of the Enemy’s Faith: Theocracy, State formation and the politics of violence in decolonizing North-East India

National Seminar on Religious Beliefs and Practices: A Cross Cultural study of societies in Northeast India,
8th -9th March, 2018

Presented a Paper

Department of History, NEHU, Shillong

Forgotten Partitions and Fluid Frontiers

International Seminar on Northeast India and its international neighbours: New Directions,
8th -9th March, 2018

Presented a Paper

Department of Political Science, NEHU, Shillong

Recovering Forgotten Partitions: History of Partition from Northeast India through archives and beyond

International Seminar on Commemorations
1-2 February, 2018

Presented a Paper

Department of History, Jadavpur University, Kolkata

Handkerchiefs, Cats and other stories: Revisiting moments of violence and terror from northeast India

International Seminar on Narratives of Violence and Terror in South Asia
16th-19th November,2017

Presented a Paper

Department of English, NEHU, Shillong

The Last Post of India’s partition: Recovering partition histories from Assam

International Seminar on Revisiting and Remembering Partition: Issues related to Eastern and North eastern India
21st-22nd August,2017

Presented a Paper

Department of History, Diamond Harbour Women’s University, West Bengal

Culturescape of Partition politics: recovering the cultural dimension of partition in Assam

International Conference on The Indian Freedom Movement and the Partition of the Subcontinent
10th- 11th February, 2014

Presented a Paper

Department of History, Visva bharati, Shantiniketan

Oral Narratives and Food Practices: Food, Decolonization and Grassroots politics in colonial North-East India

National Conference on Cultural History of Culinary Practices in North-East India,
Ist - 2nd December, 2007

Presented a Paper

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT, Guwahati

Lingering legacy of a divided nation: Looking beyond the politics of citizenship in post-colonial Assam

International Seminar on reconciliation, Conflict Transformation and Peace Initiatives: Contemporary Challenges in South-Asia
28th-29th November,2016

Presented a Paper

Department of Philosophy,lady Keane College, Shillong

Recovering a Forsaken Partition: Narratives of Partition and the displacement from north-east India

National seminar on Impact of Partition, Society, Polity and Literature of Bengal
25th-26th November, 2016

Presented a Paper

Department of History, Bengali and Political Science, Mahadevananda Mahavidyalaya,
Barrackpore, West Bengal

‘The Past is not a Foreign Land’

International Conference on history and Imagination
14th- 15th January, 2012

Presented a Paper

Department of History, Visva bharati, Shantiniketan

Traditions and Contests: Revisiting National Movement and the Sufi-Ulama Conflict in Colonial Assam

International Seminar on Sufism and its Influence in the Indian Subcontinent
3rd September,2019

Presented a Paper

Department of History, NEHU, Shillong

King’s Men and the Borders: Boundary Commissioners and the Making of North-East India

International Seminar on Historicizing Borders: New Perspectives on Politics, Ethnicity and trans-national Linkages in North-East India
26th-28th February,2019

Presented a Paper

Department of History, NEHU, Shillong

‘At the Stroke of Pen’: The Predicaments of borderlands, borders and the politics of peopleing in India’s north-east

National Conference On Borders and Borderlands: Negotiating the Margins under Globalization,
7th and 8th February, 2017

Presented a Paper

Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata,(An ICSSR Institute)

Attended as Resource Person (Online) Since April. 2020:

  1. UGC-HRDC-NEHU 2nd Faculty Induction Programme 16th October, 2020
  2. UGC-HRDC-NEHU 4th Faculty Induction Programme 24th March, 2021
  3. Refresher Course Lectures, Department of History, NEHU, 5th to 18th October, 2020.
  4. Five Day Faculty Development Programme organized by the Department of History & Institute of Distance Education, Rajiv Gandhi University on ‘New Perspectives in the history of North-East India,’ 3rd to 7th August, 2020.
  5. Department of Bengali, Cotton University, Guwahati, Invited Lecture – ‘Partition and North-East India: Reflections in Bengali Literature’, 22nd August, 2020.
  6. Department of History and Research Club of English Online Interdisciplinary Lecture Series Talk 4 by KAHMU Women’s College, Manjeri, Mallappuram, Kerala entitled ‘Indian Partition: A Perspective from the North-East’, 3rd October, 2020.
  7. North-East Society, I.P. College for Women, Delhi University Webinar on ‘Traditional World View of North-East India and the contemporary world’, 24th November, 2020.
  8. Atheneum Panel Discussion on ‘Contesting Narratives: Rethinking the Idea of India’s North-East’, 23rd January, 2021
  9. Shantipur College, Department of History & Paschim Banga Itihas Samsad National webinar on ‘Partition of India: Refugee Problem of West Bengal and Beyond’. 16th September, 2020.
  10. Department of Political Science  and IQAC National Webinar on ‘ Migration in North-East India: Contests and Implications, 15th September, 2020.
  11. MAJHA HOUSE, Amritsar Webinar on ‘Partition in the East: Some Forgotten Stories’ 29th August, 2020.
  12. College Students Welfare Committee, Guwahati Debate Series- CSWC Debates National Education Policy, 2020: Salience, Takeaway and Practicality, 8th August, 2020.