INSURGENCY AND THE QUESTION OF STABILITY IN ASSAM

Abstract

An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against government. In Assam various sub-national groups like ULFA, NDFB, DHD etc. seem to have been involved and involved for fullment of demands for safeguarding their identity, rights over land and resources. It has often been manifested as ethnic terrorism; sometimes, deliberate violence to advance their cause; sometimes, seen as proto-guerrilla terror acts directed against symbolic targets, designed largely to foster self identity as well as development. Whereas, stability for a country where there belongs to different communities, castes, religions, all recognize the fact of unity and integrity for much needed peace and security for development. Insurgency and stability are the two relative terms, though one challenges the other. The insurgency phenomenon has been hampering the process for a long period of time in Assam. The question for its emergence seems to have been the most enigmatic, most destructive; arguably second to none in terms of brutality, savagery, wanton callousness, scope of operation and in terms of challenges it paused to stability and integrity. The conict dynamics ranges from autonomy to secession and from sponsored terrorism to ethnic violence; mostly generated due to continuous ow of illegal migrants across the borders. The failure of the government in safeguarding the interest of indigenous people by deporting illegal migrants brought obviously insurgency vis-a-vis the question of stability in the state. This paper tries to understand the root causes of insurgency problem in Assam and the concomitant stability problem for bringing permanent solution it created which hampers the socio-economic development in the light of focusing much needed harmony, peace and security in the state.