Quest for Nagalim The Tribal Factor The Naga insurgency, considered the mother of all insurgencies in North East India, is also the world’s oldest unresolved armed conflict in modern times. A number of government-led initiatives in the form of accords and agreements have been taken in the past to find a permanent solution to the issue; however, due to its highly complex nature it has not been resolved till date. One such recent attempt – the signing of the Framework Agreement between the Government of India and one of the Naga insurgent outfits, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak and Muivah) (NSCN-IM) – is yet to fructify into an acceptable agreement. The complexity of the Naga insurgency stems from the varying territorial perspectives, differing historical interpretations, demographic and socio-political faultlines, governance issues, external linkages, and the lack of development. Scholars and subject experts have studied most of the factors earlier, but what has hitherto remained inadequately researched in the domain of demography, is the primacy of the ‘tribal factor’.

This book is the result of two years’ research at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, coupled with personal experiences. This in no way is an all-encompassing research work on the subject. Research for the book is based on findings through communication and the ground situation, viewed through the prism of history and varying perceptions. It mainly focuses on the role and the relevance of the tribal factor in the quest for Nagalim.