Conflict over Power: Changing Dimensions of Ethnic Identity Politics in India’s North- East

Abstract

Over the past 30 years, the dimensions of ethnic identity politics in North-East India has been changing.  And due to ethnolinguistic, socio-economic and geographic diversity, the region has its own features in identity politics which are not similar to the other parts of the country. Since independence, the region has witnessed ethnic identity and insurgency movement challenging the integrity and sovereignty of the country. The present paper is an attempt to evaluate how the ethnic identity politics has been changing from ‘group identity’ movement to ‘individual identity’ construction and how it creates a complex situation among the ethnic groups and in the whole region.