Insurgent’s Mindset: Thinking like an Insurgent (The Stories of North-East Insurgencies)

There is a common thread that ties all these incidents together. Some of the reasons are listed below; 

• Ethnic Diversity – According to the Anthropological Survey of India, 40 million people of 213 tribal groups out of 635 listed live in this region. They belong of mongoloid origin and consider themselves very different from

the Aryan and Dravidian race of mainland India. This created a fear of losing their own identities. 

• Political and Governance Issues – According to reports there is a nexus between politicians and insurgent groups causing high corruption. The lower representation of northeast people both in bureaucracy and central administration and the ineffectiveness of local bodies have more problems. As the decision is taken in Delhi which is far from the east and there is low representation, people are unable to make their voice heard at the central level. 
• Centralised Planning – The government-led centralised planning often leads to the restriction of the Indigenous population of the northeast regions leading to scars or no development for their well-being at all. 
• Failure of policies – As the ground reality is far more than what the mainland people assume the policies made often fail. It is important to underline that all the requirements of every region are different depending on factors like geography, political demands, economic status, population, diversity in culture and customs, and other specific aspects associated with a particular region. It becomes important for policymakers to understand these factors and find solutions according to the problems faced by people. Insurgents believe that the government’s, “so-called progressive policies that stick to the demands of the mainstream India” are the reason behind the backwardness of the region. 
• Conflict pushing to military level – Experts believe that acts like Armed Force Special Power Act (AFSPA) push the conflict to the military level. AFSPA was launched in 1958, an act of the Parliament of India that grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in “disturbed areas”.

This also opens the gate for military exploitation of the commons. Such acts are in the direction of “National Security” but at the same time, it is causing more agitation among the people who are demanding the protection of their rights. This also led to the alienation of the people. 

• Natural Problems – These regions not only contains narrow valleys and dense forest but also face floods, landslides, land loss, and eventually infrastructure loss. Central government not taking any relief action on such matters bring distrust among the people. 
• Illegal Immigrants – Illegal immigrants from Bangladesh are staying in northeastern regions and using the scarce resources of the already residing people, this is also a reason behind the growing agitation. Example – In 1979 around 45,000 illegal immigrants registered in the electoral rolls which lead to insurgencies by the United National Liberation Front (Assam).