ABSTRACT
Race in contemporary India has been entangled in three main debates. The first is the relationship between race and caste. The second is experiences of racism for Indians living in other parts of the world. The third is race and communities from Northeast India. This chapter focuses on the third of these debates which have brought the concepts of race and racism as understood in North American or European contexts into domestic politics, law, and media. In the last decade, debates on race and Northeast communities have shifted from radical critique of India to discussions of recognition and national inclusion. This shift has diminished the prospects of race debates challenging established ideas of Indian sovereignty, incidences of community violence and histories of state brutality. At the same time, these de-radicalized discussions of race with relation to Northeast communities are more common than ever before, bringing ethnic minority communities into the national spotlight.
