INDIA: Northeast counterculture

It has long been understood that any goal of strengthening federalism in India by utilising the existing state boundaries will create fissures between communities and ethnic groups. Stronger federalism, after all, involves effective devolution of powers and a greater say for the federal units in the allocation and management of resources, and any perception of injustice in that process can quickly create divisive tensions. More effective federalism allows India to evolve as a democracy – but this does not mean that one can ignore the very real challenges the process will present.

Although the world largely sees a 'New Delhi vs Northeast' dichotomy, the seven states of the Northeast are a simmering cauldron of inter-community and inter-state issues. The creation of several states on the basis of ethnicity has papered over the existing cross-border spread of communities. The fragility of such an arrangement has been starkly exposed over the last two months, as communal fissures have come to the surface due to the matter of 'territoriality'. Longstanding resentments between the largely Meitei inhabitants of the Imphal Valley and the population of the surrounding hills, consisting of various ethnic groups such as the Naga, Kuki and others, have boiled over. The Naga, who constitute the majority of Manipur's hills-people, have allied themselves with the demand for a Greater Nagaland (Nagalim), which would include parts of Manipur, as well as areas of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and even Burma. Further to the west, Meghalaya and Assam are locked in a tussle over the village of Langpih, where several Assam-supported Nepali-speaking villagers were killed in late May, allegedly by the Khasi of Meghalaya.