Ethnic Conflict and Development: The Case of North-East Region with Special Reference to Manipur and Tripura

AuthorGadadhara Mohapatra
Date01 July 2016
DOI10.1177/0019556120160308
Published date01 July 2016
Subject MatterArticle
ETHNIC CONFLICT AND DEVELOPMENT: THE
CASE
OF
NORTH-EAST REGION WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO MANIPUR AND TRIPURA
GADADHARA MOHAPATRA
The North-Eastern Region (NER)
of
India is endowed with huge
untapped natural resources
and
is recognised as the eastern
gateway
for
the country s 'Look/Act East Policy'. However, the
region has experienced a number
of
coeflicts based on ethnicity.
It is also witnessing a series
of
insurgencies and is alienated
from the economic resurgence that the rest
of
the country is
experiencing. Studies on North-East India largely reflect
on
the
nature
of
ethnic tensions
and
conflicts
in
the region, most
of
them being empirical, historical and descriptive in nature. The
limitations
of
historical, cultural
and
political explanations,
compel one to look into the political economy
of
the region to
seek answers
for
the persistence
of
growth
of
ethnic movements
in the region after Independence. The crisis
of
India s North-
East has largely centred on the questions
of
identity, governance
and
development.
Economy
and
governance
rather
than
ethnicity should be the basis
for
future policy
in
the region.
This article seeks to analyse the socio-political roots
of
ethnic
conflicts
and
development dynamics there. It resituates the
theoretical debate on identity, tribe and ethnicity within this
context. The article provides a comprehensive understanding
of
the concept
of
ethnicity
and
patterns
of
ethnic conflict in the
context
of
North-East India. Further, it presents case studies
of
ethnic conflict dynamics in the less studied but important states
of
Manipur
and
Tripura in North-East India.
INTRODUCTION
PATTERNS OF ethnic conflicts are broadly defined by social scientists
under three different approaches: primordialism, instrumentalism, and
constructivism. While the primordialist approach suggests that
conJ1icts
between ethnic groups happen because
of
people's unchanging essential
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characteristics, instrumentalists view ethnicity and race as instrumental
identities which community or political leaders make use
of
to
serve specific
interests and purposes. The constructivists disapprove the primordialist
approach and argue that conflicts between two ethnic groups are not an
eternal condition and that conflicts shift and mutate over time as identities
are constructed and re-constructed (Fearon and Laitin, 2000: 849; Kipgen,
2013 :26). Contesting such primordialist views, anthropologists have paid
particular attention to the social construction
of
ethnic difference and the
process
of
'ethnic othering' related to political mobilisation along ethnic
lines (Eriksen, 2002). Numerous case studies also suggest that economic
disparity, competition over scarce resources, lack
of
opportunity, and
exclusion from income generation are key causes
of
protracted sub-national
conflicts. Researchers have argued convincingly that armed insurgencies
more easily find recruits among disadvantaged youth, and that marginalised
groups in society often mobilise along ethnic identities (Kolas, 2015:4).
In the literature on conflict studies, causes
of
'ethnic
war'
can be broadly
divided into material-based arguments (strategic issues, resources), non-
material based explanations (ethnic fear), and elite-manipulation (i.e. the
role
of
charismatic leaders (Toft, 2003: 5-10, cited in Kolas, 2015:4). Ethnic
conflicts have also been analysed
in
terms
of
a security dilemma which
assumes that mutual fears and suspicions toward other groups
is
a key
explanatory factor for the outbreak and escalation
of
violence. The emotional
aspects
of
ethnic conflict suggest that the motivation to participate in or
support ethnic violence
is
'inherent in human nature' (Petersen 2002:1). The
impact
of
ethnic conflict can be analytically examined in relation to four
dimensions
of
development such as:
(i)
politics: specifically, issues related
to unity, stability, legitimacy, political participation, and human rights; (ii)
economics: items related to per capita
GNP,
strategies
of
development, basic
needs (food, clothing, shelter, nutrition, education, etc.); (iii) socio-cultural,
questions relating to community and identity, tolerance and inter-ethnic
cooperation; and (iv) psychological, in particular, features such as mental
health, a sense
of
wellbeing, self-esteem and security and self-respect
(Premdas, 1992:20).
The view ofNorth-East India as a site
of
ethnic conflict has become the·
standard frame employed by researchers, commonly used also among local
analysts. As such,
'It
seems that the selective struggle with the state, claim
of
national identity by an ethnic community and its politics
of
difference
have to be filled with events
of
violence (Biswas and Suklabaidya, 2008:
246). Development funds are "taxed" by extremists and siphoned
off
by
local politicians, who force the village leaders to sign. There is corruption in
the Army
as
well
as
the government. There is
no
monitoring or inspection.

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