3. Solutions for
insurgency
Causes of
Insurgency
•The north eastern part of India is a region of extreme
diversity ,consisting of people from various communities
and tribes. This is the main reason for the rise of
rampant political turmoil in the region and amidst all the
confusion emerged of so called revolutionary groups
across the states .
Throughout the last six decades as successive Indian governments tried to nationalize the political space in the
Northeast by pushing ahead with mainstreaming efforts the struggling ethnicities of the region continued to
challenge the nation building process.
Despite recurring themes in rebel narratives such as political autonomy, economic justice, and cultural rights any
understanding of rebel group in the Northeast must come to terms with multiplicity of voices, and the tensions that
often exist between competing rebel agendas.
A rebel group with a particular ethnic constituency may be at war with another rebel group, and indeed its primary
opposition may not be with the Indian state at all. It might even cooperate with government security agencies in
fighting rival group.
The north eastern region consists of 8 states which are the
‘Seven Sisters’ states and in the year 2002 a brother was
added to this region, the Sikkim state.
Land is another important factor in the on–going conflicts in
the Northeast. It is the struggle for land as territory that each
emerging ethnic nation claims to own as a right.
These armed groups often attack settler communities or
rival tribes as part of a strategy of ethnic cleansing to achieve
ethnically compact homelands. It has become a trend for
almost each ethnic community in the Northeast to claim
nationhood
4. Irom Sharmila Chanu , also known as the "Iron Lady of Manipur" is a civil rights activist, political
activist, and poet from the Indian state of Manipur. Since 2 November 2000, she has been on hunger
strike to demand that the Indian government repeal the Armed Forces (special forces) (AFSPA) Act, which
she blames for violence in Manipur and other parts of northeast India. Having refused food and water for
more than 500 weeks, she has been called "the world's longest hunger striker“ and now she is been
accused for “attempt to suicide”.
For Indians in the North East, their country's growing economy and expanding influence in the world
stage is of little use.
A culture of rich benefiting at the expense of poor and the majority's interest before the repressed
minority is pushing people in these regions away from national mainstream. They are being pushed to
economic and cultural poverty.
For the women of India’s NER which cover the road to economic prosperity is littered with stumbling blocks. First, they
must overcome the limitations of their patriarchal society and the perception that being women renders them less
valuable and less competent than their male counterparts.
Then, as residents of India’s poorest region, they struggle to acquire the financial capital, education or connections
needed to break poverty’s vicious cycle. And, for women of a certain caste, social stratification presents yet another
barrier to upward mobility.
5. 0
500
1000
1500
2007 2008 2009 2012
Assam Nagaland Manipur
Stress is to be given on understanding the root cause of insurgencies in NER and designing policies
and strategies accordingly.
Policies made for dealing with the insurgent groups should win the hearts and minds of the people
of North East.
Military solution is a must before going for any political solution.
Criticizing the implementation part of various policies in the North East, divergence of various issues
in North East makes policy making difficult.
The people are pushed away from the national mainstream leading to economical and cultural
poverty.
Moreover, the location of the eight northeastern Indian States itself is part of the reason why it has
always been a hotbed of militancy with trans-border ramifications.
The NE states have a 4,500kms international boundary with the four South Asian countries while it
is connected to the Indian mainland by tenuous 22km corridor passing through Silliguri in eastern
part of West Bengal called the “CHICKEN’S NECK”.
The graph beside shows the number of deaths
caused in different years in three states.
The main trouble that we are facing is that the militant
groups are either Indian’s or of Indian origin ,it is very
difficult to march action against our own people.
Creating such islands of desperation and
disenfranchisement will only add to India's domestic
terrorism problems. Angry and hungry citizens don't
make a happy and secured nation.
7. 7%
37%
31%
19%
1%
3% Arunachal
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Sikkim
Tripura
Manipur
Percentage of Tourist
in the year 2010-11
Advantages of Tourism:
Direct spending by tourists and the associated economic
multiplier effect
Tourism generates different types of income for a community:
business income, wage earnings, share earnings, rates and levies.
Direct spending by visitors has a positive impact on business
profitability and employment growth. The money that is then
circulated and re-spent in the economy is often referred to as
indirect spending or the multiplier effect.
Because much of a region’s tourism patronage comes from
metropolitan centre, it is an effective way to redistribute wealth
from urban to rural areas.
KAZIRANGA is a vast expanse of tall elephant grass, marshland, and dense tropical moist
broadleaf forest, crisscrossed by four major rivers, including the Brahmaputra, and the park
includes numerous small bodies of water. KAZIRANGA has been the theme of several
books, songs, and documentaries.
CHERRAPUNJI, about 56 kms from Shillong .CHERRAPUNJI attracts more than 50,000 tourists
every year, it is of great tourism attention for the government as well as people.
UJJAYANTA PALACE , compound covers an area of approximately one km².It is situated in
Agartala in Tripura state. The name was given by Rabindranath Tagore.
8. Tea
46%
Limesto
ne
3%
Coal
45%
Ginger
5%
Other
1%
LEADING EXPORTABLES OF
NER(%)
The uranium mining question of Meghalaya has become a symbol of unrest because the
local people feel threatened if they are dispossessed from their land. After all, where will
the people go if space is taken up for mining. These are issues which must be considered in
NER which is characterized by sharp class divisions
•The huge reserves of more than 1000 MILLION TONES of high chemical grade limestone in the Eastern
Nagaland is a major prospect for setting up of mineral resource based industries.
•The NER is famous for its exclusive handicrafts and handloom products. Some of the products are
bamboo frame mirror, bamboo dressing chest, wood carving, embroidery jewellery , hand-made
flowers made of palm leaves ,coral leaves and host of others.
TEA PLANTATION is a major revenue
generator, it plays a vital role in
improving the socio-economic condition
of North Eastern states of India. Assam
and Tripura are the traditional tea
growing areas in this region. Assam is the
largest producer of tea in India. Some
effort has been made in the recent past
to introduce tea in all the other . Assam
accounts for nearly 53% of the all India
production and 69% of North Indian
production.
9. STATES 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10
Arunachal 1 1 1
Assam 2284 2284 2433
Manipur 1 1 1
Meghalaya 0 0 0
Mizoram 2 2 2
Nagaland 13 13 13
Sikkim 0 0 0
Tripura 64 151 151
The length of Railway Lines(kms) in NER.
The railway lines in the North
Eastern states of India are yet to
see their applications . Till yet
there are only 2,592 kms of total
rail length in the entire region.
But it is projected that by 2017
all the capital cities of Northeast
will be set on the Indian Railway
Map. However, it remains
doubtful with the current pace of
progress.
While the railway connectivity
will take a longer period to
accomplish , as an immediate
task the air-routes can be used
as a medium for promoting
tourism and trade in the region.
The road connectivity within the NE is extremely poor. The presence of national highway is quite
negligible in most of the NER.
The centre has envisaged connecting the NE state capitals to the EW highway through the SEVEN
SISTER’s ‘corridor project’ . This will link the capitals of the seven states and the border points of
Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Many other projects develop roadways are still on paper and have not been implemented or have
failed to operationalize .
10. AGRICULTURE : Realizing the potential of fertile land and its types.
The Northeastern region falls under the high rainfall zone and the climate ranges from
subtropical to alpine.
The region is characterized by difficult terrain, wide variations in slopes and
altitudes, land tenure systems and indigenous cultivation practices.
Although cereals dominate the rain fed hill ecosystem, dependence on livestock
and horticulture as an alternative source of income is significant.
Nagaland has increasingly
become a preferred
investment destination in
India. It is highly endowed
with fertile soil, plentiful
rainfall , salubrious climate
, large number of plant and
animal species and
availability of vacant land
for plantation purposes. All
of these create favourable
conditions for producing
various kinds of agricultural
products and agriculture
and allied sectors of
Nagaland, in turn, offer
good inputs for
development of a host of
industries .
The PRODUCTIVITY of land as compared to its
potential is low throughout NER.
Area under HIGH YIELDING VARIETY paddy is
9.50 lakh hectares (35%).
WOMEN FARMERS are UNTAPPED SOLUTION to
NER’s HUNGER.
Unfortunately the growth
potential of hill agriculture
has remained under-
exploited due to lack of
system-specific production
technologies, poor
infrastructure
(transport, markets, processi
ng) and underdeveloped
institutions
(credit, extension, informati
on, insurance), not
withstanding the structural
constraints imposed by
difficult terrains, inaccessible
habitations, diverse socio-
cultural and agricultural
typologies, and
small, scattered and
fragmented land holdings.
11. 80.5
35.3
76.5 77 90.7 80.3
47.3
76.1
19.5
64.7
23.5 23 9.3 19.7
52.7
23.9
Forest Area( %) Area under other use(%) •The region is identified as one of the world’s
most BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT , it hosts species
rich tropical rainforest and supports flora and
fauna and several crops species.
•FIVTY FOUR PERCENT of total NER area is
under forest cover.
•The NER has been in spotlight for its high
diversity and traditional knowledge and this
region has been a priority for leading
conservation agencies of the world. The
region is affluent in medicinal plants and many
other rare endangered taxa.
1. Large natural resources and potential for growth in the agro-forestry sector including expensive and
extensive BAMBOO PLANTATION , exotic flora.
2. Large MINERAL DEPOSITS(particularly in Assam and Meghalaya).
3. Vast water resources including tremendous HYDEL POWER PROJECT .
4. Great promise for TOURISM DEVELOPMENT.
5. Proximity to one of world’s fastest growing economy , SOUTH EASTASIA.
6. A LITERATE POPULATION.
7. Rich heritage of HANDICRAFTS.
8. Unique COMMUNITY SPIRIT and democratic traditional system of local self-government.
THE BASIC STRENGTH OF NER
12. Proposed Remedies
1. MEDIA plays an important role in development of any sector of a region. The need of MEDIA is a must in
NER, in the past years apart from the insurgent groups news nothing much has been covered by the
MEDIA . MEDIA has a direct impact on tourism encouragement which indeed will help the development
of NER.
2. The LITERACY RATE of all the NE states is above the average literacy rate of India. It is not that the
population lacks in education , MIZORAM has the 2nd highest literacy rate of India . It is all because of
the political instability running across the NER that they feel alienated from the rest of India. This leads
to the decline in growth of NER . Thus insurgency must be healed first.
3. TAX EXEMPTIONS and SUBSIDY in AGRICULTURE and INDUSTRIAL POLICIES such as in the recent
industrial policy issued in 2010-11, any new industry interested in business has no LAND TAX for first
five years. Such policies attract more industries and indeed lead to the development of NER. Using
availability of natural resources and oil deposits can change the whole scenario of NER.
4. The NON GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION(NGO) can play the most important STAKEHOLDERS in the
growth potential of NER. ARGHYAM a water and sanitation system helping NGO has worked for the
betterment of NER.
5. INCREASING THE ANNUAL BUDGET OF STATES : The annual budget of Manipur state is less than the
single department of Andhra Pradesh state’s annual budget. Drawing the attention of government to the
potential of NER is a must , otherwise this will lead to wealth distribution instability in the whole of
India.
6. MAKING AVAILABILITY OF NON GOVERNMENT AND IT SECTOR JOBS: As the literacy rate is good IT sector
can develop easily. Most of the people are dependent on government jobs ,as government jobs have
less availability , most of the people remain unemployed . Thus creating UNEMPLOYED YOUTH which is
the biggest hurdle for any developing country.
7. STRICT INTERNATIONAL BORDER SECURITY :The repeated interference of CHINESE and BANGLADESHI
CITIZEN’S in NER must be stopped , as this gives rise to INSURGENCY AFFAIRS.
13. References
I. Troubled Periphery: Crisis of India’s North East, a book by Subir Bhaumir.
II. Ministry of development of North Eastern Region , www.mdoner.gov.in
III. Ministry of Tourism , annual tourism report 2010-11.
IV. The Times of India , an English daily of India.
V. NER Databank.
VI. Wikipedia.
VII. The Shillong Times: An English daily of Meghalaya.
VIII. Sikkim Express: An English daily of Sikkim.
IX. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.
X. North East Council(NEC).
XI. North East India: Understanding the Problems.www.ipcs.org
XII. Land used and status of NER , www.dspace.nehu.ac.in
