Ethnicity and Violent Conflicts in Northeast India: Analysing the Trends

This article is a moderate attempt to understand the various ideas associated with ethnicity and ethnic conflicts, and to study the nature, trends and typology of ethnic and insurgent conflicts in the North East Indian states (viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura) from 1990 to 2016, using the UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset. We find that ethnic and linguistic diversity does play a role in how violent conflicts by insurgent groups are carried out in the region; even though a mix of ethnic and socio-political/institutionalized nature may be attributed to it. Further, the gains from such conflict are often economic in nature.