Abhishek Saha DPhil in Migration Studies

Supervisor: Nayanika Mathur and Chihab El Khachab

College Affiliation: Lincoln College 

Saha’s DPhil research project proposes to focus on critical issues surrounding citizenship in India, probing the political, bureaucratic and legal processes that determine who is an Indian and who is not, and who rightfully belongs and who doesn’t. He studies the mechanisms of citizenship determination in India and the latest amendments to the national citizenship laws. The thesis will aim to relate the developments in India to broader, global questions and debates surrounding citizenship, statelessness, nationalism, bureaucracy, law, and politics. 

Saha worked as a journalist in India before coming to Oxford. He reported from northeastern India for The Indian Express (2018-21) and Kashmir for the Hindustan Times(2015-18). Born and raised in Assam in India, Saha graduated as a civil engineer from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, before switching to journalism. He studied Print Journalism at the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai; and a master’s in Migration Studies at Oxford (2021-22). He won the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award for his coverage of the Kashmir unrest of 2016. His debut book No Land’s People, a reportage-driven account of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, was published by HarperCollins in 2021.