M. Amarjeet Singh

Archive data: Person was Research Assistant at IDSA from October 2006 to September 2009

Joined IDSA
October 2006
Research Interests
Peace and Conflict studies, India’s North-East and Myanmar
Education
PhD in Sociology, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong
Background
Worked as a Research Associate at the Institute for Conflict Management, New Delhi (April – September 2006) and Guwahati (2003 – 2005); Research Associate, Department of Sociology, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong (2002 – 2003).
Select Publications
“Ethnic Diversity, Autonomy and Territoriality in North-East India: A Case of Tribal Autonomy in Assam,” Strategic Analysis, 32(6), November 2008.
“Movement for Bodoland state – A struggle for autonomy,” Journal of Peace Research, 14(1), Jan-March 2007.
“Challenges before Tribal Autonomy in Assam,” Eastern Quarterly, 4(1), April-June 2007.
“Assam: Challenges Before Bodo Territorial Council,” Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XXXIX, No. 8, 2004.
Other Publications
Research Assistant
E-mail:masingh[at]idsa[dot]in
Phone: +91 11 2671 7983

Publication

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Northeastern India and its neighbours: negotiating security and development by Rakhee Bhattacharya

The insurgency movement in Northeast India, demanding various forms of autonomy including independence, is a constant concern for the maintenance of the country’s unity. It is further complicated due to the region’s strategic location, being almost entirely surrounded by several countries, and hence any development in these countries will certainly have implications for Northeast India.

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Unholy alliance in North-East India

Although insurgency in several areas of the North-East region of India has declined, external manipulation and support to insurgency in Assam, the most populous State in the region, continues to be a problem.

Three States in the region, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Sikkim, are mostly unaffected by insurgency, while there has been substantial decline in insurgency in Tripura and Meghalaya. Thus, insurgencies in the region are largely confined to Assam, Manipur and Nagaland.

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Changing Face of Bodo Insurgency

Intense internal rivalry among Bodo insurgents has proved to be the biggest hurdle to peace in Bodo-dominated areas of Assam. Internal differences within the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB), the only surviving Bodo insurgent group, have further widened, following the expulsion of its founder-president, Ranjan Daimary, alias D.R. Nabla. Prospects for yet another round of fratricidal clashes are imminent, thus posing a significant threat to the peace process.

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Ethnic Diversity, Autonomy, and Territoriality in Northeast India: A Case of Tribal Autonomy in Assam

Despite the creation of several new states and territorially defined autonomous councils, different tribes in Northeast India continue to demand the creation of new states and autonomous councils. This is because most tribes in the region are under the impression that an adequate share of political power is a necessary condition for retaining their socio-cultural identities and development. Such cultural and developmental aspirations, though legitimate, face rough weather once they become connected with exclusive administrative boundaries for self-governance.

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Resolving the Bodo Militancy

Bodo militancy can be effectively resolved by accommodating the only surviving Bodo militant outfit within the existing self-governing territorial council that came into existence in 2003. In the mid-1980s, the Bodos of Assam under its influential student body, the All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU), which began a vigorous mass movement demanding a separate Bodoland state on the North of the Brahmaputra. The movement lasted for about a decade and resulted in the establishment of a territorially defined self governing council known as Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC) in 1993.

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Cracks in the ULFA

The central leadership of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) is under pressure following the announcement of a unilateral ceasefire by a section of its cadres. ULFA’s top leaders are likely to have a tough time ahead in keeping their outfit together. However, for the sake of peace and security of Assam, it is advisable for the Government of India to pursue the peace dialogue with a united ULFA rather than with a breakaway faction.