ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that Naga identity only constructed an enumerable and presentable national identity for a political objective of 'Naga nation state' that was separate and independent from the Indian nation. The origin of conflict between the tribal like the Nagas and Mizos and the Indian State was over conflicting identity. The construction of identity of the tribal started with the British. When the tribals themselves constructed their identity they obviously borrowed from colonial construction as the political expediency could not afford any other construction or reliance on history. In the pre-colonial period most of the tribes were not conscious of their tribal identities and their world was confined to their family, clan, khel and village. The autonomy demand that arose in north-east India was on the basis of pre-colonial polity formations which explain the profusion of such demand. The communities of north-east India were to fit into the framework of the cultural imagination of India.
