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The Northeast Insurgency | Part 3

  The Northeast Insurgency | Part 3 In the third part of the series, we analyze Government’s response to the NE insurgency and the way ahead  Government’s response     The Central Government is pursuing a policy for talks/negotiation with such groups which categorically abjure violence, lay down arms and seek solutions for their problems peacefully within the framework of the Constitution of India. As a result, a number of outfits have come forward for talks with the Government and have entered into Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement, and some of them have signed Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) and yet others have dissolved themselves. Those who are not in talks are being dealt with by the Central Armed Police Forces and the State Police through Counter-Insurgency Operations. The Central Government is supplementing efforts of the State Governments in dealing with the insurgency through various measures. These include: Deployment of Central Armed Police ...

The Northeast Insurgency | Part 2

  The Northeast Insurgency | Part 2 In the second part of the series on the Northeast insurgency, we analyze the factors responsible for the insurgency, the challenges being faced and  the impact of insurgency on the region’s economy. (The first part of the series is here) Factors responsible for insurgency in the Northeast Lack of development and basic amenities coupled with corruption and diversion of funds, often to the coffers of insurgents e.g. siphoning of food-grains meant for the public distribution system, a large proportion of which falls in the hands of the militants Unemployment problem in the region stands as a major cause for sustained insurgency. Feeling of alienation and deprivation among the tribal population Demography: In spite of several political permutations and combinations, the political boundaries in most cases do not coincide with the existing social boundaries. It has lead to the demands of various ethnic categories for recognition of their distincti...

The Northeast Insurgency | Part 1

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  The Northeast Insurgency | Part 1 In this article series we focus on understanding the insurgency in North-East India. The North-East region: The Northeast region of India comprises eight states – the Himalayan state of Sikkim and the contiguous seven Sister States (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura). North East India is connected to the Indian mainland by a small corridor – Silghuri Corridor (also known as Chicken Neck – with a narrow width of only 23 kilometers.) Strategic Importance of the region : About 99% of the 6387 km border of this Region is international border along Bangladesh, Myanmar, China and Bhutan. It makes up close to 40% of India’s land borders with its neighbours. It thus has an extraordinarily important international strategic dimension and is a vital part of the nation’s defence architecture. Bridge to South East Asia : The region is a bridgehead between India and the vibrant economies of Southeast Asia, including ...