National Question in this Multi-National Subcontinent || July 2005

India's Turbulent North-East

Anal Sen

Assam , Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Nagaland--these seven states compromise India 's northeast. In the propaganda hand-outs of the Government's Tourist Department and the different bourgeois news paper and journals or to be precise, in all the bourgeois media these seven north-eastern states are affectionately called as "seven sisters" and are projected as heavenly beauties with their matchless natural charm and the 'simple, pristine' life styles of the people. The object of such a propaganda is to create a tourist's urge among the 'urban, civilised' people of the 'other India' to pass a few tension-free days in the 'simple, pristine and naturally charming' homes of the seven sisters so that they can get rid of the 'tiredness' of their urban, civilised lives and recharge themselves for jumping once again in the 'civilised' life with renewed vigour. More importantly, such propaganda is an integral part and parcel of a smokescreen to hide the real objective conditions of these seven states. Of course these seven states of India 's northeast can undoubtedly be labelled as 'seven sisters' in the sense they are tied together by a strong thread of intimate relationship. But this intimate relationship has not grown from the common natural beauty of these states, nor from the 'simple, pristine' lives of the people of these states, but a common fiery environment of ruthless deprivation, oppression. Intense anger, agitation., explosions of protest and continuous bloodshed has kept the seven states of the north-east bound together in a close relationship. The endeavour to paint an extremely colourful, soothing picture of the north-eastern states is very much part of the conspiracy to suppress the real gory picture of these states. But the reality of this region is too much perturbed, too much gory, too much intense and fiery for the conspiracy to be successful for a prolonged period of time. So time and again the incidents like the recent explosions in Manipur shatter the carefully dressed up picture of this region and bring the truth in the open. Then the other India wakes up with a jolt, starts to look around a bit and feels somehow haunted by a few uncomfortable questions like "Oh! What is happening there?" And then India 's northeast becomes front-page news in the popular newspapers and continues to be such for a few days. But after a while the situation, according to the jargon of the government's press release and bourgeois media, "returns back to normal", the media sends the north-east back to its "normal" position, i.e., the last page, the other India hastily banishes the uncomfortable questions out of its mind and manages to overlook the news of "Killing of terrorists in a clash with the government's security forces", published as small items in some obscure part of the last pages of the big dailies. But after a period, which may be comparatively short or long, some part or parts of the northeast erupts once again, and once again the other India is forced to focus its attention towards this region Then once again there is a uproar which after a period once again dies down. For more than four decades India 's northeast is revolving along this close circle; and the circle is repeating itself for the umpteenth time. Although it has become quite evident for a quite a long time that the seven states of India 's northeast have an extremely serious problem, not a proper step has been taken towards solving the problem. Rather, all the steps and measures that the central government has taken in respect of the so-called "seven sisters" of the north-east during this comparatively long period has intensified the problems, which has become more and more evident from the seventies of the last century.

Actually the seven states of the northeast have a common problem and the then nature of the problem and the policy pursued by the Indian ruling classes in relation to this problem, both have made it impossible to find a real solution of the problem within the present ruling structure. The problem of the north-eastern states is an integral part of India 's unsolved national problem. The Indian ruling classes and the state run by them have perpetuated the problem. With respect to multi-national India's unsolved national problem the Indian ruling classes have, right from the beginning, pursued a policy of continuing the

National oppression of the small, backward minority nationalities, keeping them in a condition of total neglect and brutally suppressing the national aspirations and movements of these small, oppressed nationalities by directing naked state terrorism against them with the help of military and Para-military forces. At the same time the Indian ruling classes are carrying a conspiracy to buy over some sections of the extremely thin upper layer of these oppressed nationalities by throwing paltry bits of reforms like the formation of separate states for them within the present Indian state and thereby to soften the intensity of the anger and agitation. For this reason all the seven states of the northeast were not formed at the same time and also not instantly with the gaining of power by the Indian ruling classes. These were formed at different times spanning a wide period. For a considerable period of time present Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh were included within the state of Assam and each of these gained the status of seperate statehood at different times. Nagaland was formed in1963; Meghalaya in 1972, Arunachal Pradesh in 1987 and after being centrally administered for a considerable period of time Mizoram was formed as a separate in 1987. After its merger with the Indian state in 1949 Manipur was being centrally administered till 1972 when it was formed as a separate state. Hence it is quite apparent that whenever the Indian ruling classes have felt that naked, brutal state terror is failing to give them the desired result in their pursuit to suppress the growing high waves of mass movements of the oppressed nationalities of north-east, they have taken recourse to the path of conspiring to subvert the movement by dangling morsel of reform of the formation of separate states before the movement. But the history of the past few decades have proved that the Indian ruling classes have not been able to achieve long-standing success with their policy about the north-eastern states. Although the Indian ruling classes have generally been successful in buying over some elements of the thin upper portion of the oppressed nationalities by offering them the opportunity to form state governments, these successes are proving to be increasingly short-lived. Driven by the urge of "Let us make hay while the sun shines" the ministers and government officials of the newly formed state governments are throwing all scruples in the wind and carrying out a plunder with both hands with the benevolent silent sanction of the central governments. And the Indian ruling classes continues with the naked brutal state terrorism against the people of the north-east which is the main plank of their policy with regard to the oppressed minority nationalities. Now the state governments act as agents of the central governments and hence turn into targets of people's ire in no time. People again erupt and the cycle repeats itself time and again.

'Seven Sisters' and the Indian Ruling Camp

Two very early incidents focussed the character of the mutual relationship that existed between the Indian ruling classes and the population of the north-east at the time of the formation of the present Indian state, which, thanks to the Indian ruling classes not only continued, but turned more bitter, more antagonistic and more gory with the passage of time. When in September, 1949, the then Governor of Assam, Sri Prakasa, accompanied by his adviser for Tribal Areas, Nari Rustomji, reported to Sardar Vallabbhai Patel, the then Deputy Prime Minister of India, that the "native state" of Manipur might be reluctant to merge fully with the Indian Union, Sardar Patel's response was--"Isn't there a Brigadier in Shillong?" If Sardar Patel were been alive today, then looking at the situation of the seven states of the northeast he would have been mightily pleased. He would have found not only one, but several Brigadiers in that area and not only Brigadiers, but also many military officers of higher rank than brigadiers like Lieutenant Generals and Major-Generals. He would have also found that military formations much larger than brigades ? corps headed by Lieutenant Generals and divisions headed by Major Generals ? are now stationed in that area. The second incident happened in 1960. At that time Meghalaya was a district within the state of Assam . Khasi and Garo tribes were then agitating for a separate state under the leadership of Assam Hills' People's Council. In that circumstances late Sri Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India , experienced the greatest jolt in his life while on an Assam visit. The people of the Meghalaya district completely boycotted the meetings that were arranged for Sri Nehru in that area. These two incidents clearly revealed the deep-rooted mutual mistrust and animosity that existed between the people of northeast and the Indian ruling camp right from the beginning. This relation continuously deteriorated throughout the subsequent period as a result of which the whole of northeast has been virtually transformed into a military prison camp by the Indian government.

It is extremely difficult to ascertain the exact number of Indian army personnel posted in the entire northeast. The English weekly 'The Telegraph' published from Kathmundu reported in its edition of 3rd October 2001 that 6 to 7 divisions of Indian army, i.e., near about 60 to 70 thousands of Indian soldiers were posted in that region at that time (

After the formation of the separate states in the north-east elections are being more or less regularly held in these states, 'elected' governments are functioning and the machine of the State Assembly with the governmental side and the opposition seem to be working 'normally'. But it can easily be imagined how much an election can be free and unrestricted when it is conducted under the direct supervision of the army. Within the mostly artificial and weak federal structure of the Indian state all the state governments have limited powers. In the case of the northeastern states this truth is nakedly reflected and these state governments are made to act as almost puppets of the central government. The grand show of the elections, 'elected' state governments, state assemblies etc, is actually a smoke screen behind which the central government is directly ruling these states.

The Central Home Ministry constantly monitors the daily running of the state machinery of these states, and this daily monitoring is carried out through the military and Para-military forces and the different central intelligence agencies in which the state governments have no role to play. Although a few of the top political bosses and bureaucrats of the states may get some place in this monitoring system. Still the central government assumes these people to be weakest link in the system and these 'local' people may sabotage the counter-insurgency arrangement from within.

The permanent presence of huge number of military and Para-military units and imposition of a number of black acts like The Armed Forces Special Power Act are clear examples of centre's direct role in the running of these states. The military and the Para-military forces are directly under the command of the central government, which directs their postings. The history of all these years have clearly demonstrated that the survival of the state governments of the northeastern states or the ministers of these governments depend solely on the mercy of the central government. Here are a few examples of centre's direct involvement in this region: ?

~ Since 1997 the 'counter-insurgency' operations in Assam have been conducted by an United Command under which all forces including the state police come under the operational command of the Army, which means the Assam state police is now under the command of the Army.

~ During the regime of the previous BJP-led UDA government the Nagaland State Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution for the withdrawal of The Armed Forces Special Power Act from the state. But the then central government rejected the unanimous resolution of the Nagaland State Assembly.

~ In December 2000, the central government asked the Manipur government to investigate the links between at least five ministers and 'insurgent' groups. The Home Ministry forwarded a report to the state authorities. Manipur's caretaker Chief Minister Radhabinod Koijam, just before the fall of the government, dropped six ministers from his cabinet. Koijam was then in the middle of a battle for survival and there were other reasons for their removal. But he defended his action saying that their names appeared in the Central Home Ministry's list of "tainted" politicians.

~ It has also been observed that when the present Chief Minister of Manipur went to Delhi to plead with the central government for the withdrawal of The Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the state during the height of the recent waves of people's protests the central government paid no heed to his pleadings and he had to come back to his state empty-handed.

But these are only a few examples and moreover of recent times. The whole history of the northeastern states from 1947 onwards abounds with such examples.

A distinctive feature can be noticed in the governmental administration of these states, which set them apart from all the other states of India . In all the other states of India the role of the governors in normal times is mostly figurative and ceremonial. But in the northeastern states governor's office has been conferred a role that far exceeds the more ceremonial functions it is constitutionally restricted to elsewhere and in normal circumstances. It has to be specially noted that in the case of posting of governors in these sates the top officers of the army or the central intelligence agency have always given preference. Among the seven north-eastern states five now have governors who are either former high ranking police or military officers or of the central intelligence agency

Arunachal Pradesh Arvind Dave,former chief, Research & Analysis Wing (RAW)

Assam Lieutenant General (retired) S.K.Sinha

Manipur Ved Prakash Marwah, retired Indian Police Service officer

Nagaland O..P.Sharma, retired Indian Police Service officer

Tripura Lieutenant General (retired) K.M.Set

In these circumstances it is no wonder that the people of the northeast feel that they are under an occupied army. This feeling was explicitly revealed during the recent mass explosions against the army in Manipur when the protesters always used the adjective "Indian" before voicing their protests against the military posted there.

Historical Perspective of the Problem

Out of India 's 67.76 million tribal populations 8.14 live in the seven northeastern states. There are more than 75 major population groups and sub-groups speaking approximately 400 languages and dialects, of which there are about 268 in Arunachal Pradesh, 95 in Nagaland, 87 in Manipur, 100 in Tripura and 200 in Assam , Meghalaya and Mizoram. But this statistics are not exact and fully correct and contain some discrepancies. For example, let us consider the case of the Nagas. It is now officially recognised that the Nagas does not represent a homogeneous tribe, there are a number of separate groups within the population designated as Nagas. A debate is still going on within the informed section about the number of groups included under the common nomenclature of 'Naga'. But it is now more or less accepted that 39-40 separate groups do exist under the common nomenclature of Naga. Apart from the Nagas, almost similar complexities also exist among the some other tribal communities of this region. There are differences and consequently conflicts among the different tribes of this region. Moreover, all the population of this region does not consist of tribes; this region does contain a considerable amount of non-tribal population. Among the tribes only the Boros of Assam lives in plains and all other tribes live in the hills. The non-tribal population of this region lives in the plains. There are also differences and conflicts among the tribes and non-tribes. Over and above, all the population of this region does not occupy the same position ? they are at different stages of development. But in spite of all these differences the population are united by a strong bond-- as nations they are all underdeveloped and backward and are nationally oppressed.

During the English rule the presence of the imperialist administration was almost nominal. Magnanimity did not play any role behind this administrative policy of the English imperialists; rather a shrewd trader's calculation was the motive force behind this policy. The English rulers realized that they had nothing much to plunder from this area, but the imposition of a strong centralised administration over this area of difficult accessibility would drain a considerable amount from their exchequer. Hence considering the balance sheet they had concluded that it would be profitable for them to remain satisfied with collecting taxes from this area and refrain from undertaking any serious endeavour to bring this area under their total administrative control. Hence by attaching the labels like "excluded' and "semi-excluded" to different parts of the north-east the British rulers had kept al most the whole area out of their rigid administrative rule and did not disturb very much the ways of life of the local population.

But they were very much serious about extortion of taxes and did not hesitate to send battalions of army for this purpose whenever necessary. But, apart from this, as the British rulers allowed the population of this area to remain almost undisturbed throughout the whole period of their rule and at the same time neglected them totally, so the old pattern of life of this tribal dominated area with age-old tribal beliefs, customs, ideas etc. changed very little during the British period. In this circumstances when in 1947 the Indian state power was transferred to the hands of the Indian big bourgeoisie and big landlord there were no objective reasons to take it for granted that the whole of the north-eastern region naturally became an indivisible part of the then newly-formed Indian state. And actually it did not. But the Indian ruling classes adopted a policy of forcing this reality out of existence. And the roots of the trouble were planted.

The first rebellion in the northeast against the Indian state was the Naga rebellion. Actually the Armed Forces Special Power Act was promulgated in 1957 to suppress the Naga rebellion. Like the ancient Greek city-states, the Nagas traditionally lived in village-states, independent and self-contained with a democratically elected village council headed by a Chief. In other words the Nagas remained unconquered and un-administered by any alien power since time immemorial.

Only a small portion of the Nage territory in the southwest entered the recorded history of the British imperialism in 1883 when some villages were invaded and occupied by the British forces. The year also marked the beginning of the Naga War of Resistance against alien political campaign and occupation. Haipou Jadonang, one of the Naga revolutionary pioneers, was jailed and finally hanged at Imphal on 29th August 1931 by the British. His successor, Ms.Gaidinliu, better known as Rani Gaidinliu in Naga history, was imprisoned for 14 years.

The memorandum submitted by the Naga Club, the only all-Naga political organisation existing at that time, to the Simon Commission on January 1929 stated that "the Nagas should be left alone", which clearly represented the burning desire of the Naga people to preserve the sovereignty of Nagalim (independent Nagaland)

"At a time when the British Government was aiming to grant independence to India , a plan was afoot to keep Nagalim as a "Crown Colony'. The operation, however, did not materialize owing to the vehement objection raised by the Nagas who insisted on complete independence of their nation from Great Britain as well as Hindustan . It thus came to pass that that the British just left the western nagas to their free will"(A. Z. Jami Lotha, 1997, Cry For Justice , p261). At the withdrawal of the British forces from their territory, the Nagas in the British-occupied territory promptly declared their independence on 14th August 1947 and formally merged with the unconquered and un-administered "Free Nagalim". A plebiscite was organised here in 1951 when 99.9% of the Naga population voted in favour of sovereign independent Nagalim.

When a Naga delegation approached Gandhi in New Delhi in July 1947, he told them ?"Nagas have every right to be independent. ...If you do not wish to join the Union of India, nobody will force you to do that. The Congress government will not to do that". In November1949 when another Naga delegation met C. Rajagopalachari, the first Indian Governor General of India , he reconfirmed the statement of Gandhi in this way ? " India does not want to deprive the Nagas of their land. Nagas are at full liberty to do as they as they like, either to become part of India , or to be separated, if it would be best for their interest to be isolated".

But in spite of these assurances from the Indian leaders, India started to pour armed forces into Nagalim in 1954 to conduct an unprecedented genocide and the 'Naga Problem' was permanently rooted.

The partition in 1947 brought in a big change in this region. The partition created an almost permanent stream of influx of people from erstwhile East Pakistan and Bangladesh of the present times, to this region. This influx is continuing till now. This has seriously affected the population balance of many parts this region among which Tripura has been the worst affected. In Tripura such an influx from the erstwhile East Bengal started long before 1947, the reason being neighbouring East Bengal was tickly populated and the pressure on the land was quite intense, while Tripura was sparsely populated and a considerable amount of lane was lying uncultivated. These factors forced an influx of poor peasants to leave their homes in East Bengal and come over to Tripura in search of land. Before 1947 most of the migrants were Muslim peasants. But in 1946 a large number of Hindus flocked there because of communal riots there. Since 1947 almost all the migrants have been Hindus. This considerable influx over a widespread period of time completely changed the population influx of Tripura. In 1901 the original tribal inhabitants had been 70% of the total population of Tripura, which came down to 57% in 1951. Now they are only 30% of the total population. Hence from a position of by far the majority portion of the population the original tribal population of Tripura have now been reduced to a position of pathetic minority, Land, commerce, education, state cabinet, government service-- everywhere the almost total authority and dominance of the Bengalis is quite palpable and the original tribal population have been reduced to a marginal existence. In this circumstance the deep sense of anguish, anger and deprivation of the original tribal population of Tripura is quite natural and legitimate.

This effect of migration on the population balance of Tripura had induced a deep sense of anxiety, fear and apprehension among the Assamese in general. An anti-Bengali feeling had been rooted among the Assamese during the British rule. Thanks to the British patronage, the Bengalis were the first to reap the benefit of English education and they were the mainstay of British administration for a prolonged period of British rule, more so during its early stage. So the imposition of British administration on Assam brought in quite a lot of Bengalis in Assam . Following the trail of the Bengali servers of the British administration a number of Bengali professionals like lawyers, doctors and also traders came to settle in Assam . And with the spread of the English education in Assam Bengali teachers also flocked in because of their advantage of being first to receive the English education. Because of this comparative advantage the Bengalis dominated in their respective fields that gradually created an atmosphere of tension and clash between them and the local Assamese population. After 1947 a growing influx of people from the adjoining areas of the then East Pakistan took place and now on the majority of the migrants were peasants. Coupled with the long-standing grievance for the neglect of the central government the problem of immigration gave rise to the Assam movement. Actually, after 1979 the problem of immigration overshadowed all other problems in Assam . It is impossible to get a real estimate of the number of migrants. But is has been observed that in the immigrant areas the rate of growth of voters has been higher than the rate of population growth of the state. One observer said in 1985: "Within fifty years they will form the majority in Assam . The next stop will be a referendum on merger with Bangladesh . With Assam gone India will have no land link with the rest of the north-east India ."( Assam Tribune , 17 August 1985) This possibility is, of course, imaginary and not likely to happen. But this anxiety and fear is quite real in the minds of the Assamese people. The 'Assam Accord' of 1985 was a total failure as far as the issue is concerned. So Assam has remained turbulent. Moreover, There is the Boro problem in Assam . The Boro tribes live in the plain land of Assam and from their perspective Assamese are the oppressor nation. the Boro movement for a seperate Bodoland started from the decades of the 1970s. The no.6 clause of the Assam Accord mentions about safeguarding the cultural and social traditions of the Assamese, but it is silent about the others. Naturally this Accord failed to please the Boros. In 1992 'Bodoland Accord' was signed between the central government and the Bodo agitators, which failed to mitigate the agitation. In February 2003 another has been signed between the central government and Boro Liberation Tiger, the presnt leader of the movement that envisages the creation of an autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). But this also will not be able to solve the problem. Because all these so-called accords granted nothing but tiny morsels of reforms, they did not address the main problem ? the problem of national oppression.

The Indian ruling classes dealt with the other tribal people of the northeast like Mizo, Garo, Khasi, etc in the same fashion. Without caring a bit about the wishes of these tribes the Indian government, at first, included them together within the Assam state. Afterwards with the rise of movements of these people for self-determination the central government was forced to grant them separate states in different times. But this step did not help very much towards solving of the problem for reasons stated earlier. In this context another complexity have to be kept in mind. In the tribal-dominated northeast more than live together in many areas and in the context of the local tribal population the proportion one tribal population to that of another is different in different areas. In Assam the Boros are one-third and Misings are 11.24% of the total tribal population of that state. In Mizoram the Mizos are 87.3% of the total tribal population of that state. In Meghalaya the Garos are 50% and Khasis are 47% of the total population of that state. In the populous states of Assam , Manipur and Tripura the population of the tribal population is comparatively quite less. While Boros are one-third of the total tribal population of the whole of northeast they are just 3.7% of the total population of Assam . In Manipur along with the majority Meities of the plains Nagas and Kukis live in the hills, and the Nagas are now demanding for the inclusion of those areas in Manipur where the Nagas live, within the 'Greater Nagalim'.

Centre's Neglect

In the developing areas the rate of development generally keeps pace with the rate of population increase. But in the northeast we observe an opposite phenomenon. The neglect and indifference of all the central governments have dwarfed the economic development of this area. The central governments have always used this area as a convenient ground for sucking resources needed for the economic development of the other parts of India . Shri Dhirendranath Bejbarua, the editor of Sentinel , the largest English daily of Assam , said in an interview in 1997: ? " Assam produces millions of tons of oil every year, but more than half of it is sent to Baruni refinery. Why?" It is a fact and the question is legitimate. The condition of the northeast region in comparison with the rest of India can be gauged from the following table: - of selected indicators, for the year 2000

ITEM	N.E India	Indian av.
Per capita food grain production, in Kgs	125.87	201.15
Yield rate of total food grains, in Kg/Ha	13.53	14.67
% population registered in Employment Exchange	4.02	3.56
Population per small scale industry (in thousands)	3.58	1.45
Per capita production from SSI (in Rs)	140.17	510.68
Per capita consumption of Electricity (in KWt)	92.25	330.6
Per capita consumption of petro products (in Kgs)	42.85	69.96
Area served by a Post Office	31.09	1.6
Area served by a hospital	0.66	0.79
Kms of Road per Sq Kms	45.69	62.8

How much the whole of India 's northeast has been neglected and kept backward can be clearly judged from the above table.

Agriculture which is the mainstay and on which 70-80 per cent of the population of this region depend is still traditional and rice output of this region is only one-third that of Punjab . Except Manipur and Tripura where agricultural productivity per unit of land is higher than the all-India average, in the rest of northeast agricultural productivity is alarmingly low. In1991-1996 Assam's agricultural growth rate was estimated as 1.2%, much below the rate of growth of population and that of Meghalaya 0.8% and Tripura 0%. Between 1970-1984 in the whole of northeast the rate of growth of agricultural products increased by 56%, whereas in this period the corresponding figure for the whole of India was 71%.

The industrial growth in this region has been negligible and the manufacturing sector never contributes more than 5-6 per cent to the state national product. Due to lack of investment the growth is stagnant. In Assam both oil royalty and revenue from tea were pegged down deliberately at a low level and resources were pumped out of the state for utilisation elsewhere. Only the service sector, i.e. government and the construction sector due to government investment in the construction of roads to facilitate the movement of the army, has been growing.

This area has a number of rivers ? actually, 37% of the river water resources of the whole of India is in this area. Still northeast has to bring half of its total fish requirement from the other states of India . The position is worse in the case of livestock requirements. Assam has to buy 74% of its milk products requirements, 94% of its egg requirement and 98% of its meat requirement from the other areas of India . The proportions of production of this region in the cases of milk, egg and fish to the all-India production are 1.6, 3.2 and 2.7 per cent respectively, whereas the population of this region is 3.72% of the total population of India .

This region is also rich in natural resources. As because this area contains 37% of the river water resources of India , so 42% of the potentiality of the hydroelectric power generation of the whole of India lies here. The petroleum resource of Assam is very well known. In fact, 30% of the opportunity and potentiality of petroleum oil and gas production rests with this area. Moreover, this area also contains underground deposits of coal, limestone, dolomite and some other minerals. But this natural resource-rich area has been left almost totally neglected; and not only that, an idea has been carefully propagated that there is nothing much to be found in the northeast. Another glaring example of centre's neglect and indifference is its policy towards Brahmaputra . The Brahmaputra River with its tributaries is the lifeline of the entire northeast as well as the cause of its woe. Brahmaputra is the one of the largest silt-carrying rivers of the world. Because of the huge deposition of silts on the riverbed Brahmaputra causes disastrous flood every year, which paralyses the agriculture-based economy of the entire northeast. But the successive central governments have taken no steps towards solving the problem; at least to somewhat ease the situation. It is left as an un-avertable natural disaster.

In addition to glaring neglect and indifference and conducting a naked and cruel state terror, the central governments are carrying on a heinous conspiracy in this region. The condition of co-existence of a number of tribal communities in different parts of the north-east and the existing conflict between them is enabling the Indian ruling classes to carry on with the conspiracy. Whenever necessary the central powers are instigating and intensifying the existing mutual conflict between different communities and using one against the other in order to weaken the overall movement for self-determination. As for example, in the conflict between the Assamese and the Boros, the mandarins of the central government sometimes supports the Assamese and while in some other times stands behind Boros according to the demands of the situation. Again in Manipur, in the conflict between the majority Meities of the plains and Nagas of the hills the Nagas are receiving the patronage and even material assistances from the central governments. This heinous role of the Indian ruling classes is making the overall situation in the northeast all the more inflammatory.

Independence or Indian Revolution

The ever intensifying rebellion of the small, nationally oppressed nationalities against national oppression and their resistance struggles against the state terror of the Indian state is keeping alive and at the same time intensifying the inflammatory situation in the northeast. It can clearly be observed that the leading organisations of these movements are moving with the separation from the present Indian state and gaining independence from it. At the same time it is also being observed that time and again the one-time leaders of these struggles are swallowing the bait of the Indian ruling classes of the tiny reform of separate states within the Indian state and are making themselves comfortable on the state governmental seats., which is quickly converting them as targets of mass discontent and agitation. Then a new set of leadership is seen to take the reins of the leadership, who, after a period, are seen to sit with the central government for another round of 'peace talks'. The national struggles of the northeast are generally seen to be circling around this path.

Moreover, in this context another interesting feature is to be specially noted. In the present imperialist era imperialism has become the main enemy before all the national struggles. So, at the present era, it is incumbent on all the national struggles to struggle for the overthrow of imperialism. Yet it is seen that the majority of the leaderships who are, at present, leading these movements are silent about opposing the imperialists, when it is all the more important to oppose imperialism in the context of overpowering presence of imperialism in the Indian sub-continent.

In fact in this present imperialist era two different outlooks and two sets of programmes in line with the two outlooks can appear before any national struggle. One is bourgeois outlook and another is proletarian outlook. The bourgeois outlook places, before these struggles, the objective of the creation of nation-states, which, even if is achieved, will not be able to go beyond the imperialist chain, will not be able to overthrow imperialism and so will be able to achieve national liberation only in a distorted way.

The proletarian outlook, in the other hand, addresses mainly the vast majority of the poor people of the oppressed nationalities and places before them the objective of overthrowing imperialism and the national oppressor classes and to create a new state under the hegemony of the proletariat, which will really honour the independent desires and aspirations of the oppressed minor nationalities and which can be a real guarantee for the full national liberation.

At the present moment, the bourgeois outlook is dominating the struggles of the oppressed nationalities of the northeast. The proletariat outlook can influence these struggles to the extent the Indian proletariat can raise its voice against the state terror of the central government unleashed against these oppressed nationalities of the northeast, lends its support to the resistance struggle of these people against the state terror, make its unequivocal support for the unrestricted rights of these oppressed nationalities to decide their own future known to the poor, working section of these nationalities and win over this section to its stand and side.

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