First History Lessons: The People of Our Country

First History Lessons is a series of three books published under ‘Revisiting the Craft of History Writing for Children’, a project by the Institute of Development Studies Kolkata (IDSK), Kolkata. Explaining complex themes in history to children, it was funded by Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (RLS). Published in March 2023, the books in this series are: Itihase Hatekhari: Desher Bhasha (The Languages of Our Country), Itihase Hatekhari: Desher Manush (The People of Our Country) and Itihase Hatekhari: Deshvaag (Partition).This book, First History Lessons: The People of Our Country, engages with laws of citizenship in India. It has been written by Tista Das, teacher of history at Bankura University, West Bengal. Arunava Sinha has translated this book into English from the original Bengali. The illustrations have been created by Ranjit Chitrakar and Sirajudaulla Chitrakar, patachitra artists from the West Midnapur district of West Bengal.This 56-page document is divided into 11 chapters which trace India’s citizenship laws and their impact: In the Beginning (Chapter 1); Partition (Chapter 2); Laws (Chapter 3); Infiltrators (Chapter 4); The Citizenship Law of 2019 or CAA (Chapter 5); The National Register of Citizens or NRC (Chapter 6); Assam (Chapter 7); Gangadhar’s Story (Chapter 8); Hasina Bhanu (Chapter 9); Borders (10); And Finally (Chapter 11).The book presents details on the Constitution of India and the need for its introduction after the partition of the country. It goes on to explain the Citizenship Act of 1955, its amendments and the latest revision in 2019. The book discusses the distinction between ‘infiltrator’ and ‘refugee’, and how it is apprehended...