Identity and violence in India's North East: towards a new paradigm

This thesis analyses colonial constructions of identity in North East India. It traces how these constructions were later incorporated into the Constitution of India and gave rise to a differentiated citizenship, a dual administration, and an ossified triangular system of social relations comprising indigenous groups, non-indigenous Assamese, and migrant identities. The ongoing unrest in India's North East is thus contextualised in its historical dimension and presents an alternative interpretation of the violence in India's North East based on appraising a triangular system of settler colonial relationships.