India is the second most populous state in the world, which in the foreseeable future can "catch up and overtake" China. However, the country's billion population is not only its obvious advantage, but also an unconditional problem. Especially if the socio-economic conditions of life in the country leave much to be desired, and the population itself is represented by hundreds of different ethnic groups professing a variety of religions and absolutely not striving to get along together.
Modern India is not only "Hindus", by which we mean the Indo-Aryan population of the northern states, professing Hinduism, but also the dark-skinned Dravidian peoples of South India, the Munda tribes living in the forests of the central states, Sikhs and Muslims of the north-western provinces, and finally, numerous Tibeto-Burmese peoples of the Himalayas and North-East India. The national consciousness of each ethnic group is fueled not only by the desire to improve their status in the state, but also by the influence of foreign states, which are not always friendly towards the strengthening of India.
This article will focus on the peoples of North-East India, who for many decades have been fighting an armed struggle to expand the rights of their autonomies, and even for the final separation from the Indian state. These peoples inhabit the seven northeastern states of India, the history and culture of which is much less known outside the country in comparison with the "cradle of Indian civilization" - the interfluve of the Indus and Ganges. These states are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripur. Separated by the territory of the sovereign state of Bangladesh, they have communication with the rest of India only along the narrow "Siliguri corridor", which reaches a width of 21 to 40 kilometers and is a strip of land between the Indian, Bangladeshi, Nepalese and Bhutanese borders.
But not only natural barriers separate the northeastern states from the main part of the Indian state. Since ancient times, their historical and cultural development was carried out quite independently from the main centers of Indian culture. This was due to both geographic location and national differences. People here are completely different. If the main India is the Indo-Aryans and Dravids, then here is the territory of compact residence of the Tibeto-Burmese and even Thai and Austro-Asian (Mon-Khmer) tribes. By race, most of the indigenous population is Mongoloids, culturally closer to the population of neighboring Tibet or Burma (Myanmar) than to the main part of India. Naturally, the border position also determines territorial claims to a number of territories in Northeast India, primarily from neighboring China.
Although the Assamese and Bengalis, who today are the most numerous peoples in the region, are Indo-Aryan and are Hindu or (to a lesser extent) Islamic, the mountainous and inaccessible areas of the northeastern states are inhabited by indigenous peoples. These are the Naga, Bodo, Khasi and other tribes that have a very distant relationship to Indian culture. Equally, in confessional terms, the indigenous Tibeto-Burmese, Thai and Austro-Asian peoples differ significantly from most Indians. In the national states of Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, most of the population professes Christianity (the result of many years of diligence by English missionaries), in areas bordering China, Myanmar and Bhutan, the percentage of Buddhists is traditionally high.
From the second half of the twentieth century. the national minorities of northeastern India are actively fighting for autonomy and even complete self-determination. Naturally, not without the support of states interested in weakening India - first Great Britain, and then China, which cannot come to terms with the fact that these lands are part of the Indian state. First of all, it should be recalled that in the first years after the proclamation of India's independence, its northeastern part was part of the unified state of Assam. The emergence of the other six states is itself the result of years of struggle for national autonomy by the region's ethnic minorities. Forced to yield and compromise, India willy-nilly divided the Assamese territory, at least roughly trying to endow each group of national minorities with its own autonomy.
However, the multiple partitions of Assam did not bring about the end of the civil war and the stabilization of the socio-political situation in the region. Today, there are pockets of armed resistance in almost every state; the central Indian authorities do not fully control the hard-to-reach areas, even despite the multiple superiority over the rebels in manpower, weapons and financial support.
To get an idea of the military-political situation in this strategic region of South Asia, it is necessary to dwell on each state in more detail, paying attention to those armed groups that operate on its territory.
1. The largest in population and historically developed state of North-East India is Assam. More than 31 million people live here. For six hundred years, from 1228 to 1826, the kingdom of Ahom existed on the territory of modern Assam, founded by the invading Thai tribes. The Assamese language belongs to the Indo-Aryan group of the Indo-European language family, but is full of borrowings from the national languages of the Thai, Tibeto-Burmese and Mon-Khmer peoples. Significant differences in historical path and cultural identity prompted many Assamese to argue the need for a complete disconnection from India, which would be the restoration of historical justice.
The United Front for the Liberation of Assam was created back in 1979 and since then has been fighting an armed struggle for the creation of an independent state of Ahom. Naturally, the separation of Assam from India can be beneficial, first of all, to China, which will control the state in the event of independence, as well as Pakistan, for which the creation and maintenance of instability on the northeastern borders of India means weakening its presence in Jammu and Kashmir, with the prospect of rejection of the lands inhabited by Muslims.
In addition to OFOA, the Bodoland National Democratic Front also operates in Assam. Bodoland is four counties in the north of Assam, on the India-Bhutanese border. It is home to the Bodo people, whose language belongs to the Tibeto-Burmese group. The 1.5 million Bodo people have their own unique religion, although today a significant part of the Bodo adhere to Christianity. 1996 to 2003 the armed organization "Liberation Tigers of Bodoland" waged an armed struggle for autonomy with Indian government forces. In the end, official Delhi was forced to cede and the territory of Bodoland formed a special national autonomy within the state of Assam. The National Democratic Front, which has existed since 1986, did not recognize the results of the agreement between the "tigers" and the Indian government, and although a ceasefire was signed back in 2005, the front fighters periodically carry out armed sorties both against the Indian military personnel and against the rivals. " Liberation Tigers of Bodoland ".
2. Meghalaya. This state, just south of Assam, separated from the latter in 1972. It is home to the Khasi people, who make up 47% of the population and belong to the Mon-Khmer language family (together with the Khmers of Indochina), and the Tibeto-Burmese Garo people, who make up 31% of the population. state, as well as a number of smaller ethnic groups. More than 70% of the state's population is Protestant Christianity. However, the influence of traditions is also very strong and Tibetan-speaking Garos, for example, despite their Christian faith, remain one of the few matrilineal societies in the world. If the khasis, who once also had their own kingdom, relatively calmed down after the creation of the state of Meghalaya, then the Garos are convinced that their rights continue to be violated.
The Garo National Liberation Army is based in the state of Meghalaya, known for its recent (November 4, 2013) attack on a Hindu holiday in the neighboring state of Assam. Why Assam became the arena for this radical organization is very simple: representatives of the million-strong Garo people also live in this state, and the Meghalay Garos are trying to help their fellow tribesmen to reunite the territories of their compact residence.
3. Manipur, bordering Myanmar, is a small state in terms of population (2, 7 million people). Its territory was never part of India and developed completely separately, even the British colonialists left power to the Maharaja. In 1947, Manipur established its own system of government, but the Maharaja was forced to sign an agreement on the entry of his principality into India. Naturally, a significant part of the Manipurians did not give up hope for self-determination, and even the state status given to Manipur in 1972 did not prevent the insurrectionary movement, but, on the contrary, spurred it on to further resistance already for complete independence.
The Manipur Peoples Liberation Front operates on the territory of the state, which includes the Manipur People's Liberation Army (Kangleipaka, the United Front for National Liberation and the Kangleipaka People's Revolutionary Party. poorly concealed - back in the 1980s, the People's Liberation Army fighters underwent training at Chinese military bases in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
4. Nagaland was the first of the Assamese territories to receive state status - back in 1963, which was due to the special persistence of the warlike Naga people. The Nagas who speak the Tibeto-Burmese languages are known as “headhunters”. Even the adoption of Christianity and their transformation into one of the most Christianized peoples of the region did not affect the military qualities of the rebels. The central Indian government has virtually no control over Nagaland. The residents themselves call their territory the People's Republic of Nagalim, and the rebel National Socialist Council of Nagaland operates both in India and in neighboring Myanmar.
In a word, the postcolonial national borders for the nagas do not matter - they want to have their sovereignty over the entire territory of compact residence. There are dozens of rebel checkpoints on state highways that charge tolls. The revolutionary tax is also levied on all businessmen operating in the rebel-controlled territories. The male population living in the controlled territories is mobilized into the army. The ideology of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland is a mixture of Maoism and Christianity. Indian authorities claim Naga rebels are involved in drug trafficking from neighboring Myanmar's "golden triangle" to India and Bangladesh.
5. Arunachal Pradesh is the most remote northeastern state of India. Only about one and a half million people live here, belonging to 82 different ethnic groups, mainly professing traditional cults, Tibetan Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism. This is a hard-to-reach mountainous area bordering China and traditionally the object of territorial claims on its part. In fact, until 1947, a significant part of the tribes living in Arunachal retained independence, since the colonial authorities were not particularly interested in the region, and they limited themselves to recognizing the vassalage of the southern tribes in relation to Assam. The status of the state of Arunachal received only in 1986, before that there was the Union Territory of Arunachal, which was the subject of a dispute between China and India and the cause of the Sino-Indian border war in 1962.
Even now, Arunachal Pradesh is a very closed area. Indian citizens themselves need an internal visa to visit the state, and foreigners need a special permit from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Meanwhile, the culture of the Tibeto-Burmese and Thai tribes living here is of considerable interest, as are the Buddhist monasteries, which make it possible to call this region Southern Tibet. Part of the territory of Arunachala is in the sphere of interests of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, as it is inhabited by representatives of the Naga tribes. Also since 2007, the National Liberation Council of Taniland, allied with the Naga rebels, has been operating here. However, in general, Arunachal, judging by the reports of the world media, is a calmer region than Assam, Manipur or Nagaland.
6. Mizoram. This state split from Assam only in 1987, also as a result of a long struggle for the independence of the Mizo people. The Mizo National Front for twenty years, from 1966 to 1986, waged an armed struggle for the self-determination of this Christian people, linguistically related to the Tibeto-Burmese. The success of the struggle for the status of the state influenced the military-political situation in the region, which today is relatively calm compared to the neighboring territories.
7. Tripura, located on the border with Bangladesh and also received the status of a state only in 1972, is inhabited by 70% Bengalis and the rest - by local indigenous peoples, the largest of which is Tripura proper and gave the name to the state. The positions of the communists are traditionally strong here, and the Tripura National Liberation Front is waging a guerrilla war in the jungle. It is noteworthy that here the armed attacks of the rebels are directed primarily at the Hindu majority of the population. The national liberation ideas are mixed with the hostility of the representatives of the Tibeto-Burmese peoples of Tripura, professing Christianity, towards the Hindu Bengal-speaking majority.
There are certain parallels between the rebel groups operating in the northeastern states of India. All of them have a pronounced ethnic background, rely on the historical and cultural differences of the northeastern states, as a rule, enjoy the support of those ethnic groups that profess Christianity and are alien to Hinduism with its caste ideology. The socialist orientation of a significant part of the insurgent groups testifies in favor of their pro-Chinese orientation.
Thus, considering the situation in the northeastern states of India, also called the "seven sisters", it can be concluded that the Indian government is unlikely to be able to completely eliminate the armed organizations operating in the region. First, it is obvious that even the practice of increasing autonomy, converting former districts into states, does not give the desired result - the rebels begin to fight for complete independence. Secondly, insurgent groups have long earned money through their armed struggle, controlling certain territories, and they are unlikely to agree to give up their opportunities and income. Third, the mountains, impenetrable jungle and the proximity of the state border seriously complicate the conduct of military operations against the rebels. And the most important thing is the desire of other states, primarily China, to weaken India by constantly "exhausting" its military and financial resources in endless civil wars.
