Identity, contestation and development in north east India: A study of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland

Abstract

The buzz word 'development' encompasses growth with institutional changes. Despite some basic commonalities, India's North Eastern-most three immediate neighbouring states Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur have got asymmetric development performances due to asymmetric institutional structures. Of the states, Manipur is quite different from other two and experiencing nearly a complete breakdown of its development mechanisms in the recent years, especially in 1990s. Communal violence, human rights violation, and uncertain law and order condition, etc. are the fallout of institutional failure and consequently these factors led the State's economy to a crippled one. Infrastructure, especially, road and communication aggravates to the present state of condition, and also breaks relationship with the neighbouring states, among the communities within the State. Otherwise, this state should have been one of the most advanced states in the country when we traced the early history and its development trajectory. Why is the government (centre) apparently benign with the states of Mizoram and Nagaland when dealing with public demands while it appears to be malignant in Manipur? What factor(s) led to mass uprising, conflict in the State of Manipur and remains unsettled so long are also raised in this paper.