Indian Nationalism

This chapter provides the narrative framework within which the nationalist discourses in the three states are analysed. The chapter is divided into three sections. The first section deals with a review of literature on nationalisms that have prevailed in India after Independence, and which are relevant to positioning the Bangladeshi migrants present in the three states. The second section points to some key concepts from the non-Indian literature that invites attention. The last section states the two axiomatic assumptions that underlie the narrative structure and which give the study a unity. The first assumption is that the discourse of nationalism starts with colonialism, the second assumption is that partitions have had defining impact on nationalist thought in India.