Perilous Journey

The contours of Assams development and security reveal a continuum of turbulence and conflict. Over the centuries, Assam assimilated large number of ethnic groups, and remained the key state of Indias North-East. It anchors other smaller states of the region in terms of connectivity, geography, economy, history and society. Except Tripura and Manipur, all other states in North-East India were carved out of Assam during the 1970s and 1980s due to ethno-identity politics. During this period, continuous migration from Bangladesh threatened its economic, cultural, political existence, and the psyche of the indigenous people of Assam. All this resulted in the historic Assam movement, which gradually got transformed into an insurgency. The ever present violence forever changed the destiny of Assam for worse with multi-layered security problems. The states economy which was leading in the first few decades after Independence became the most backward in the pan-Indian development space after liberalisation. The theme of the book dwells upon such multi-disciplinary issues that continue to fracture Assam. This book is premised on the belief that today, Assams economic prosperity and security issues can no longer be treated as mutually exclusive paradigms. While exploring the security-development linkages, this volume focuses on migration, insurgency, cross-border activities, counter-insurgency doctrines and development issues of Assam. It brings forth the views of experienced policy-makers, academicians and young scholars. Conceptualising the interdependence of security and development in Assam, the book calls for a more integrated and holistic approach to understand and address the security situation in Assam.