AN ANALYSIS OF THE CAUSES OF IGNORANCE OF MAINLAND INDIA ABOUT THE NORTH-EAST.

When any person hailing from the north-eastern region of India visits some other part of the country, he is often shocked to discover the utter ignorance of the rest of India about his native land. This sense of shock, however, does not last for long. The realization that his fellow Indians have some flawed, preconceived notions about the region, which they are not ready change replaces the shock with indignation and rage. He often finds himself wondering as to what is the cause of this gross ignorance and indifference of mainland India towards the seven rainbow states of the North-East .

Historical Cause- The ‘Seven Sisters’ have had an isolated existence for centuries. Except for a few sporadic invasions by ambitious imperialists and rapacious plunderers, there are very few instances of the north-east coming into contact with the mainland. Often, the events which shook and brought about significant changes in the rest of India , had little or no impact on the north-east. As a result, this region does not share a common history with the mainland. Lack of common historical bonds must have greatly contributed towards deplorable absence of interest of Indians towards their brethrens from the north-east.
Cultural Cause- Culturally and linguistically, the inhabitants of the ‘Seven Rainbow States’ are closer to the people of the South East Asian Region than to the rest of India . Each of the seven states has its own, distinct customs, traditions, culture and language but these have few commonalities with the cultures of rest of India. The fact that all the languages of the north-east, except Assamese, originated not from Sanskrit but the Austro-Asiatic branch of languages, also alienates the people of this region from the rest of India. Moreover, the north-easterners have mongoloid features which renders them somewhat different from others. They are, infact , frequently referred to by the pejorative term ‘Chinkis’ .
Geographical Cause- The north-east is connected with the rest of India only by a narrow corridor in north Bengal called ‘chicken neck’. This area is hilly and relatively forested and it is only recently that good rail and road transportation facilities were developed here. So, for centuries this part of the country remained remote and inaccessible for the rest of India. Lack of communication and contact with the inhabitants of this region due to its geographical inaccessibility, is thus a vital cause of the ignorance of mainland India.

Political cause-Almost every second person hailing the north-east feels that the central government metes out a ‘step motherly’ treatment towards his region . They feel that the Centre is interested only in exploiting the minerals and other natural resources of the region instead of being interested in its socio-economic development. They blame non-allocation of sufficient fund for the region’s development by the central government as the cause of its poor state of affairs. They point out the fact that the entire Manipur State budget is less than the budget of one single department under Andhra Pradesh government as an evidence of Delhi’s negligence of the north-east. They also feel that the central government-irrespective of the political party in power-is not sincere in its efforts to curb the insurgency problem in the region. In other words, the people of the north-east have umpteen reasons, some valid and some baseless, to be dissatisfied with the Centre.
Today, on one hand, the mainland is accusing the north-east of not considering itself to be a part of India while on the other hand, the latter is complaining that the mainland is reluctant to accept it as a part of the mainstream Indian life. The ‘people to people contact’ strategy which has been so successful in easing tension and discord between India and Pakistan, should be applied to the north-east region as well. Increased cultural, social and academic interactions between the people of this region and the rest of India would contribute in allaying their mutual distrust and discontent . Of course, the central government should take more active measures to deal with the problems such as economic backwardness and insurgency which have been ailing the country for a long period. To put it succinctly, all the causes discussed above needs to be addressed if the north-east is to truly become a part of India.