Negotiating ‘Home’ and ‘Belongingness’: A Narrative Approach to Displacement and Migrants’ Mobility

Abstract

This article studies the lived experiences of the forced migrants—of their fears, aspirations, challenges, expectations and reception by the host communities. I use the term ‘forced migrants’ to refer to the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of Manipur who were fleeing persecution, deserting their homes and belongings and seeking security on their own terms in a new setting. In the context studied, forced migration paradoxically incorporates compulsion and choice as well as agency and constraints. Second, the narrative approach is used in mapping the movement and mobility of the IDPs in multiple sites—Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Delhi and Hyderabad. The narrative approach also provides insights into how forced migrants seek to make sense of displacement and violence, re-establish identity in ruptured life courses and communities, bear witness to violence and repression and redefine the idea of home and belongingness. Lastly, it studies the experiences of ‘ethnic othering’ and the reconstruction of the idea of ‘home’ and ‘belonging’ which were the core narratives in the IDPs account.