Insurgencies Of North East

Drawing from his vast military experience, SHOKIN CHAUHAN outlines the evolution of the violent agitations in strategically the most sensitive region of the country

- Shokin Chauhan

Northeast India is the easternmost region of India and comprises eight states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. The Siliguri Corridor in West Bengal, with a width of 21 to 40 km (13 to 25 miles), connects the North Eastern region with mainland India. The region shares an international border of 5,182 km with the neighbouring countries, 1,395 km with Tibet Autonomous Region at China in the north, 1,643 km with Myanmar (Burma) in the east, 1,596 km with Bangladesh in the south-west, 97 km with Nepal in the west and 455 km with Bhutan in the north-west. It comprises an area of 262,230 square km, almost 8 percent that of India.

This region is also home to some of the Indian subcontinent's last remaining rainforests, which support diverse flora and fauna and several crop species. Numerous reserves of petroleum and natural gas exist in the region and are estimated to constitute a fifth of India's total potential. This region is covered by the mighty Brahmaputra-Barak river systems and their tributaries. Geographically, apart from the Brahmaputra, Barak and Imphal valleys and some flatlands in between the hills of Meghalaya and Tripura, the remaining two-thirds of the area is hilly terrain interspersed with valleys and plains.

The total population of Northeast India is approximately 46 million, with 68 percent of that living in Assam alone. Assam also has a higher population density of 397 persons per km than the national average of 382 persons per km. The literacy rates in the states of the Northeastern region, except those in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, are higher than the national average of 74 percent. As per the 2011 census, Meghalaya recorded the highest population growth of 27.8 percent among all the states of the region, higher than the national average at 17.64 percent; while Nagaland recorded the lowest in the entire country with a negative 0.5 percent.