Background

Anurag Das is a doctoral candidate in the Comparative Asian Studies programme at NUS. His research interests include Customary Land Rights, Infrastructure, Borderland Communities, and Memory Studies. Originally from Assam, India, he earned his MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in 2019, where he received the Best MA Research Dissertation prize for his thesis, “Collective Healing of Extra-Judicial Killing Victims: A Case Study of EEVFAM, Manipur.” In 2018 while pursuing his Masters, Anurag also participated in the Globalisation and Diversity programme at Göttingen University, further enriching his academic and research pursuits.

Following his Masters, Anurag served as a Research Associate with various non-profit and government organisations, including the North Eastern Social Research Centre and OKDISCD in Guwahati, as well as Ayang Educational Trust in Majuli. He also contributed as a Remote Researcher for Land Conflict Watch, focusing on documenting land-based conflicts in Manipur.

Asian Languages

Anurag is fluent in Assamese, Hindi, Bengali and Nagamese.

Research Interests

Anurag's research interests that drew him to the Comparative Asian Studies programme have evolved through extensive fieldwork with various borderland communities in Northeast India. This experience has deepened his understanding of the region's intricate dynamics, particularly concerning ethnic identity, belonging, and territoriality.

His doctoral research project conducts a comparative analysis of the borderland areas along Northeast India’s borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh. Employing an urban political ecology approach, Anurag aims to explore the transformations of material landscapes within the broader context of political and social change. Through this lens, he seeks to illuminate the interconnectedness of environmental shifts and socio-political factors in these unique border regions.

Recent Publications

Books

Anurag Das (eds) (2023). Conflict and Coping in North East India: The Role of Memory. Guwahati: North Eastern Social Research Centre. (ISBN No.: 978-81-960850-9-4)
(Grant provided by: North Eastern Social Research Centre, India and Miserior, Germany)

Anurag Das (2023). Budgeting Inequalities: The Status of Girls' Education in Assam, 2020-23. Guwahati: North Eastern Social Research centre. (ISBN No.: 978-81-960850-1-8)

Article

Manipur Conflict, Armed Insurgency and Geopolitics
https://thegeopolitics.com/manipur-conflict-armed-insurgency-and-geopolitics/