Sudeep Chakravarti, author of The Eastern Gate: War and Peace in Nagaland, Manipur and India’s Far East

Instead of Addressing Root Issues Successive Administrations of India Have Led with the Hammer, not a Handshake. This Lamentable Approach Has Always Proven to be Disastrous

While the Hindi Belt area of India gets disproportionate representation in our mainstream discourse, the Northeast has been exceptionally disregarded historically. What has been the reason for that? Is the situation any better today?

The reasons are very physical distancing followed by psychological distancing—and it began straight after Partition. Eastern India was connected near-seamlessly to Northeast India through a network of roads, railways and waterways. It was possible to go from, say, Kolkata to Agartala through present-day Bangladesh. Or by steamer from a jetty near Dhaka to Guwahati. Manipuri, Khasi, Garo, and Tripuri communities lived on both sides of the present-day border.

Partition changed all that. Almost overnight, the geopolitical fist of East Pakistan cut off Eastern India from Northeast India. All that connected this vast area—nearly one-seventh of India’s landmass—was the slim Siliguri Corridor which is just 20 km at its narrowest point. Northeast India generally became a place out-of-sight and out-of-mind for the government and policy mandarins in New Delhi. It became a place complicated by vast numbers of tribes and languages far from the Indic pale. A place considered by these paternalistic policy makers as one of nuisance: of rebellions and simmering ethno-political tension, without an iota of responsibility or recognition that the problems were largely of New Delhi’s making. For instance, Mr Nehru and his colleagues were acutely aware of the geopolitical significance of Northeast India—bound as it then was by East Pakistan, Tibet, China, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. He saw the Naga aspiration for autonomy in that light—and is on record in Parliament basically stating that on no account could political and territorial freedom be accorded such a small nation in a region with such massive geopolitical overhang. But little was done for decades beyond dictating New Delhi’s wishes—not exactly a model federal structure, far from the dignity and rights constitutionally due to all citizens of India. It was as if Northeast India was governed by a different set of rules from the rest of India.

This distancing permeated to education. In ‘Mainland’ India schools and colleges offered little about Northeast India beyond splashes of colour on a map, mention of the Brahmaputra or some ethnic dances showcased in Republic Day parades or cultural programmes. It took until 2014-15 for ICSE to include an optional course on Northeast India for higher secondary students!

The situation is better today from the point of view of people-movement and policy. There is more interaction. But the numbing xenophobia that many Northeasterner continue to encounter in mainland India is proof that much needs to be done. For heaven’s sake, Priyanka Chopra essayed the role of the boxer Mary Kom. Seriously? And, as far as policy application is concerned, Northeast India has China to thank for it. If China did not present a clear threat, it is doubtful whether India’s policy and security establishment would throw anything but crumbs to Northeast India. And, ironically, those very funds have for decades fed an economy of conflict in the region.

Poor infrastructure apart, has the disconnect with the Northeast also been on account of our prejudiced social conditioning? How do we bridge this gap?

By including the history and culture of Northeast India in every layer of education. By stopping to be paternalistic—and, as an extension, arrogant—towards the region and its people. By recognising that grab-all policy does not fit Northeast India. By developing Northeast India for altruistic reasons rather than for spreading politico-religious projects. By cutting the umbilical of mind-boggling corruption that ties New Delhi to every region of Northeast India. By utterly reforming institutions like the Ministry for Development of the Northeast Region (MDONER) and the North East Council. By creating emotional buy-ins like removing the Ar