Conclusion: Transborder Mobility and the Challenges of the South Asian States

Abstract

The book examines notions of deterritorialised identities emerging as a result of transborder movements within South Asia. The book asserts that transborder movement in South Asia is not a new phenomenon. The South Asia region has the features of fluid borders, cultural commonalities with its neighbours making it a unique nature of the problem in the region. The four themes discussed in the book are first, transborder mobility, borders, and citizenship dilemmas; second, the everyday state and statelessness; third, the making and (un)making of borders; and fourth, the migration in South Asia. The chapters in the books attest to the notion that deterritorialised communities seek to challenge state sovereignty and further complicate the bureaucratic processes of the postcolonial state. The idea of containment appears to be the norms in most state, and justification emerges from state action, bordering, and varied citizenship laws that discriminate people within and outside the territorial boundaries of the state.