Northeast India is the most volatile and insurgency affected place in the country after Kashmir.
No estimates exist regarding the fatalities in militancy-related violence during the pre-1992 period in the northeast. According to the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs,
from 1992 to 2015 over 15,600 fatalities have been reported from each of these states, though the actual number is believed to be much more. Civilians account for more than 50 percent of the total fatalities.
In the oil-rich Assam, militants have periodically targeted oil and gas pipelines for sabotage, alleging that India is exploiting the natural resources of the state. In Tripura, national projects — such as the extension of the rail lines — have either been stalled or have moved with a tardy pace after militants attacked the construction sites and abducted workers. Militancy has also stalled the prospect of linking the economy of the northeast with the neighboring Southeast Asian countries.
Tourism, which could have flourished in the scenic northeast, has suffered. Although no foreign tourist has been abducted by the militants, an atmosphere of fear and trepidation has prevented national as well as international tourists from choosing the region as their destination. The education sector too has been affected by militancy.
A number of schools in states like Tripura’s interior areas have been shut as teachers avoid the areas due to fear of militant strikes. Extortion by the militant groups on the national highways that connect the different states with mainland India has shot up the prices of essential commodities. Trucks and buses have been burned and destroyed for non-payment of “taxes.”
Manipur was the second most violent state in the country behind Jammu and Kashmir. Still, neither Manipur, nor the northeast, has figured prominently in the policymaking of the national leaders. For instance, fencing the 4,095 kilometer (2,545 miles) long Indo-Bangladesh border, pitted as the solution to the problems of cross-border militancy as well as illegal migration, has progressed at a tardy pace.
While the government’s military options have achieved only minimal results, lack of development continues to alienate the people of the region further from the mainstream. The region has also received little attention from either the national or the international media. Achievements by a separate ministry created by the Indian government for the development of the region remain minimal.
Northeast India is the most volatile and insurgency affected place in the country after Kashmir. It is the easternmost part of India.
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