This is the fundamental point that the BJP’s outsider cheerleaders in Northeast India failed to grasp: that in the event of a clash between their Assamese and Hindu nationalist identities, many like Goswami will discover that they are Assamese first. For the BJP and the RSS, it was a matter of principle that persecuted Hindus should have India as their place of refuge, not just in practice but in theory, because that is an important part of being a Hindu Rashtra – and the Citizenship Bill is a step in that direction. For the Assamese, including many who may have become cheerleaders of the BJP, the “anti-foreigner” Assam Agitation of 1979-85 directed primarily against the Bengalis, Hindu as well as Muslim, was the formative event of their lives.