Acts of belonging: The choice of citizenship in the former border enclaves of Bangladesh and India

<p dir="ltr">After almost seventy years of protracted negotiations, Bangladesh and India exchanged all their border enclaves in the summer of 2015. Nearly 55,000 enclave residents living in these small pieces of lands, both in Bangladesh and India, were given the option to choose their state of citizenship. An overwhelming majority chose to stay where they were and opted for a change in their citizenship. Drawing on the choice of the former Indian enclave residents in Bangladesh, this article explains why they overwhelmingly chose a citizenship of the host state, as opposed to a state that they ‘belonged’ to. The article offers the concept of acts of belonging to explain their choice of citizenship. It analyzes how the disconnection of almost seventy years from their home state and dependence on the host state for daily survival influenced their acts of belonging and eventually their decisions for a choice of citizenship. In so doing, the article offers a framework that demonstrates how acts of belonging work both as a means and an outcome of spatial socialization, a process that is mediated by social memory and regional identity. In conclusion, it argues that acts of belonging can be fruitfully applied not only to understand the choice of citizenship but also in broader political geography.</p>