Ongoing (low level insurgency) India Supported by: Separatist groups: Jihadist groups: G Bidai Arabinda Rajkhowa (POW) Paresh Baruah N. Bisheshwar Singh Anup Chetia (POW) Kalalung Kamei Arambam Somorendra † Angami Zapu Phizo †Laldenga †I.
Tensions existed between insurgents in these states and the central government as well as amongst their native indigenous people and migrants from other parts of India and illegal immigrants.
These tribes each have their own distinct culture, each tribal group disagrees with being combined into mainstream India because it means losing their unique identity, giving rise to insurgency.
The northeast has been traditionally neglected economically in India, with the region receiving low levels of investment from both the Indian government and other investors.
The partitioning of the Northeast by the British during colonial rule resulted in arbitrary divisions that continue to impact the region today.
Additionally, the intervention of leaders like Nehru and organizations like the UN in the region's affairs exacerbated tensions and deepened divisions.
Clashes between the Isak-Muivah and Khaplang factions of the NSCN further aggravated tensions, as Kuki tribals began creating their own guerrilla groups in order to protect their interests from alleged Naga violations.
[27][28][29][30] The insurgent groups in Tripura emerged at the end of the 1970s, as ethnic tensions between perceived Bangladeshi infiltration and the tribal native population who were outnumbered by the former, hailing from other parts of India and nearby Bangladesh, which resulted in their being reduced to minority status even threatening them economically, socially, culturally; this resulted in a clarion call for safeguarding tribal rights and cultures.
The All Tripura Tiger Force was formed by local aboriginal tribes in 1990, who were gradually outnumbered both directly and indirectly, even at the cost of being threatened for their survival economically and culturally, not to speak of their being reduced to minority population-wise; their sole aim is the expulsion of all Bangladeshi infiltration nearby Bangladesh.
The KLO, in the beginning, was an unconcealed organisation, which was formed to address problems of the Koch Rajbongshi people, such as large-scale unemployment, land alienation, perceived neglect of Kamtapuri language, identity, and grievances of economic deprivation.
A parallel rise of nationalism in the other members of the Seven Sister States further complicated the situation, resulting in occasional clashes between rebel groups.
[38] The state wealth distribution system further fueled the rising separatist movements, as funding is practised through per-capita transfers, which largely benefits the leading ethnic group.
The HNLC claims to represent the Khasi – Jaintia people, and its aim is to free Meghalaya from the alleged domination of the Garos and the outsiders (the "Dkhars").
The Garo-Khasi drift persisted as the HNLC had set up the goal of turning Meghalaya into an exclusively Khasi region; the ANVC, on the other hand, sought the creation of an independent state in the Garo Hills.
Presently, the ZRA is engaged in a Suspension of Operation (SoO) with the Indian government, seeking a political resolution for the Zo community, which has long suffered neglect and suppression at the hands of the dominant tribe in Manipur.
The camps also harboured separatists belonging to the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) and the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF).
[49] India then exerted diplomatic pressure on Bhutan, offering support in removing the rebel organisations from its soil.
Several firefights occurred while Bhutan military personnel were required to dispose of several explosive devices and destroyed a number of guerrilla camps.
[53] India-Myanmar military cooperation dates back to the 1960s when the Tatmadaw intercepted Naga and Mizo rebels heading to China for training.
Indian support for the pro-democracy movement in the 1980s had caused the Tatmadaw to stop their operations against the northeastern rebel groups.
[54] After the 2015 Manipur ambush, India conducted surgical strikes against NSCN-K camps inside Myanmar, and inflicted significant casualties.
[55] In February and June 2019, Indian army and the Burmese Tatmadaw carried out joint operations Sunrise and Sunrise II, targeting in co-ordination several militant groups along the Indo-Burma border including the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), the NSCN-K, the United Liberation Front of Assam (I) and the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB).
[62] They use the term "Western Southeast Asia" (WESEA) to describe the region in which they operate: Northeast India, Bhutan, North Bengal, and Myanmar.
[66][67][68][69][70] Nine militant groups of the northeast, including the NSCN (Khaplang) and the ULFA faction led by Paresh Baruah, have come together to form a new unified front known as UNLFW during a meeting held in Myanmar in early 2015.
[71][72] Besides the NSCN (K) and ULFA-Independent, other groups that participated in the meeting held at Taga in Sagaing division of Myanmar earlier this month were the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), Kanglei Yawol Kunna Lup (KYKL), the People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit faction) (NDFB).