ABSTRACT
For the seven states of north-east India, their tryst with insurgency is almost six decades old. Starting with an armed rebellion by the Nagas in the 1950s, almost all the states in the region have become theatres of armed conflict. This chapter focuses on four states — Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura, where the violence has been greatest. These four encompass all the counter-insurgency approaches of the Indian state and are representative of the chaos and fear that the civilian population faces. United Liberation Front of Asom continues to be the principal insurgent group in Assam, whose influence extends over 20 of the state’s 27 districts. In 2008, Manipur was the most violent State in the north-eastern region. In the first eight months of the year, 314 militancy related fatalities were reported. Starting in 2003, violence in this tiny state in India’s north-east, surrounded by Bangladesh on three sides, has steadily declined.
