It won't be wrong to say that India is infamous for exploitation, inter-ethnic conflict, insurgency. And moreover when it comes to the northeastern region these issues are quite frequent. Hardly anyone recognised this portion of our nation prior to independence. But during British rule the inhabitants of the north eastern states developed a feeling of outsiders as their culture, tradition and language being different from the mainland. Meanwhile there was no direct communication with the mainstream society, which made them feel alienated.

They even revolted against the Britishers. Though the manner was different from the rest of the India society. Post independence certain rules and laws were imposed throughout India with 5th and 6th schedules being added to give special provisions to this part of India. These policies however, were difficult to accept.

The invasion of outsiders from neighbouring states categorised them as a minority in their own land. Books like Cycle of Clichés by Niladri Chakraborty and Strangers of the Mist: Tales of War and Peacefrom India's Northeast reveal such kind of experiences and deals with the State's insurgencies that affected the lives of the common people.

This paper would reveal a compare and contrast between both the books which would developea fair understanding of the north eastern region and issues they face in their day to day life being alienated from the mainstream society.

Though India became free yet the opportunities set never in the hands of the north eastern states. Rather their resources were snatched and experience proved to be traumatic gradually. As both the writers are related to the North-eastern part of India in some way or the other, themes like insider and outsider, alienation, identity crisis, insurgencies and ethnic conflicts play a vital role in their books.

Reason for Insurgency:
There are several reasons for it, on why insurgencies are frequent in North eastern states. First of all:-
Historical Reason:
The history itself shows how they were controlled and regulated by the Britishers. They used them for their purpose only. Since the lands were filled with natural resources, what these Britishers did, they just proclaimed it as a noninterference zone. So that they only get benefits out of all this and no one else can do the same.          

After independence what happened is that, after so many people persuaded them to integrate themselves with the country India. Due to the lack of transmission, information and communication all these things are hardly possible for the authority as well as for the people to build close affinity with each other. This is the reason whatever schemes and bills are being passed in the parliament they are not getting any kind of benefits out of it. They are not getting any kind of clarity on what is happening at the centre of the country. They are feeling alienated from all these issues. For this reason, the tension between the North-eastern states and the centre is rising.

The adjacent reason for this insurrection is migration issues.  In this the conflict and tension is happening between the indigenous people and the migrants of other parts of India as well as from the neighbouring countries of India, such as- Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar etc.
One may notice in the text Strangers of the Mist, which states – “One intelligent official told me that there could be as many as 3, 00,000 Bangladeshi migrants in the capital. That means, the illegal aliens number as much as three percent of the total population of this ancient city that is sandwiched in time and culture, with overwhelming pressure outstripping efforts to give enough people, enough land, drinking water, electricity and jobs.”(P.6)      

And for that one must understand why people are migrating especially the Bangladeshi migrants. The lands that are there are no longer able to produce stuff that are necessary to survive. The environment is unable to sustain the people over there. They are not getting basic needs, employment and things which are kind if necessary to survive there. That is the reason people are migrating.

Migration happens from one particular locality another when people are looking for an upgraded life style, in search of good times and golden opportunities. In our constitution, we have the right to move to any part of our country. Since it doesn't require any major paper work, migrating to all these places is effortless.          

During the British era, the Britishers used to import people from all other parts of the country who are proficient in speaking English, especially Bengali people. At the same time they will help them to regulate the matter over there. Therefore, these people started establishing over there. They are mixing up with the natives. Here in the book Strangers of the Mist, one may get this, how Britishers are importing Bengali Hindus to the land of Assam, where they can get benefits in the administrative works. This is evident in the text mentioned above, “One of the long- standing threats to this local concern about Assamese interest has been viewed as Bengali domination. The difficulties faced by the British colonialists in governing the state were aggravated by the resistance of the ruling class. As a result, the British imported Bengali Hindus, who were educated in English and could help administer the place.” (P.45)

Which one may observe inthe text and the author SanjoyHazarika says, “Historically, the relatively unpopulated state of Assam has long attracted Bengali Muslim in search of land, he says.”(p.17)      

It is not limited to India rather the population belonging to the neighbouring countries are migrating to this particular area since it does share borders with these neighbouring countries than with India. Since there are no such restrictions on entering these regions. Therefore, migration of these outsiders to these North-eastern states are also frequent.      

Both influx and outflux is happening in these areas. When the immigrants are coming, it's not that they only have an economic and social motif rather they also have a political motif through all this influx and outflux. There are few people who are skilled and few are there who are semi-skilled. After the intervention of these people, it creates a more flexible labour market. The non-native people are coming to fulfiltheir needs and desires and work as builders, plumbers etc. When they are coming to settle here, the natives are feeling as if all these are being taken away by the outsiders.              

This is not only related to the economy but social issues are also there, such as unevenness in population, environment is deteriorating, joblessness will happen. Overflowing population may lead to drop down in living standards, since they are running out of suitable space for building houses. The way the natives are involving themselves to protect the land, these immigrants fail to do so. Therefore, it is creating an adverse impact on the environment.        

No one can deny this fact that the natives are also running out of natural resources. Since the outsiders who are coming to this area from different other places for the mere purpose of survival they agree to work in an inadequate amount of money. This is creating a kind of competition between natives and non-natives. When their number is growing day.By day, they grab hold of each and everything belongs to indigenous people          Geographical issues are also there. In this section what one can see, due to so many issues regarding communication, differences in language structure and identity they are getting alienated feelings, that they don't even belong to this country. The people from mainland India are also looking down on them for their distinctive cultures and traditions. That is creating an imbalance in their mind as well as in their heart.

Developmental plans and schemes which are regulated by the government, these are unevenly distributed in these states. Funds are not given to execute all these laws and schemes which are passed by the government. People are facing difficulties in the field of education, employment, health facilities etc. In that particular situation an influx of immigration to these regions is creating more and more chaos in their life. The immigrants from neighbouring countries and states people are coming and settling here. Through which those who are skilled are getting employment, they are capturing the land belonging to them. Due to the mix-up of different cultures these natives are feeling low about their culture, identity crisis is happening. They are losing the grip over their own things. Since, culture is what they have and it makes them unique in their own ways. Due to multiculturalism the natives are facing so many issues.             

Since these places are quite vulnerable to natural disasters, whatever equipment is provided is not enough. Everyone is working with the intention of exploiting them. That is also creating anger in the mind of these nations to raise their voice against it.    

The deployment of AFSPA, in these states, deals with the uprisings that happens in these states. It allows the members to open fire on the basis of reasonable suspicion. They can put these nations behind the bars as well. Sometimes these officers use their power to suppress these people. Various occurrences of brutality have been documented in these regions as AFSPA allows absolute power to security forces. Fake encounters are very common here.        

All these issues are compelling them to choose violence to keep order in their states according to their own doctrines. But one may notice that this is the way to get a solution. Rather through all this brutality common people are the ones who are suffering as the outcome of something else. The innocent people are being killed in the war of ideology. There are three to four states in the northeastern region, where one can experience how often insurgencies happen in these states.Such as- Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura.
Insurgencies are recurrent in these states and the latest example one may take is the state of Manipur. Even today things are not stable. Common people are being suffered like anything. The primary texts that are taken for the paper are going to depict sufferings of common people, how migrants are being killed due to some radical principles. How they are leading their life in these areas. All this will be discussed in this paper.

The concept of outsiders and insiders:       

Due to the insurgencies, that are happening in some states particular to the Northeast region. Common people specially the immigrants who are coming into this region from different areas are how they are suffering, what kinds of challenges they are facing in their daily lives. All these are represented vividly in the primary texts taken for this paper.  

In the state of Assam, since many Hindu Bengalis are being inhabited over there, the threat of insurgent groups is always there in their heart. If they are doing something which will be disliked by the insurgent groups. These outsiders can be executed by the insurgent groups without having any guilt.      

Since the leading character here belongs to a multicultural group because he has married a Bengali girl of his choice. That is the reason the natives and insurgent groups do think that he is an outsider. That's why people are treating them negatively. The protagonist here worked as a teacher in a government institution since he has married a girl from different cultures this is the reason people can't accept them fully as insiders or a member of this region.

When the government order came to celebrate Republic Day by hoisting the national flag, the assurance for security was also given over there, which justifies the anger of these insurgent groups against the outsiders as well as for the government authority. Contempt against the laws passed by the government. They do not accept the government order in their land. They are rejecting this government's rule in their land. They need a separate country, since the government authority is working against their interest and wellbeing. There they will have their own rules, filled with their own people, they will regulate their own rules. No outsiders will be there.

This context can be proved through these lines of the book and that is Cycle of Clichés, where the author mentions,“it is never part of any other country, it was an independent country, had its own rules. Except for the Burmese and the Britishers, we have never been under anyone's dominion”.  (p.101)           

In the book where one may observe the recurrent themes of outsiders and insiders and what makes someone insider and what makes someone outsider. If one person doesn't get involved in small talks with other people, does it make him an outsider, it depends on origin or upbringing. If we perceive things like this then the kings, the authority who did rule these lands for so many years, they are also outsiders. Which demonstrates the point that the ancestors and the people who are inhabiting here with the natives are the outcome of social assimilation and nothing else.              In the book Strangers of the Mist, where it is quite visible how migrating people to this land was there for so many years. This is not something new in this particular time and place. One may witness all this in the book where the author states,“Historically, the relatively unpopulated state of Assam has long attracted Bengali Muslim migrants in search of land, he says.”(P.17)
Where one can see this influx and outflux is not something strange now. It was always there in the history of the northeast. From the above quotation one can see how people from different cultures and traditions are uniting here through the process of social assimilation.               

In the books, one can also get how these insurgent groups are hateful and biased for this. The abduction of government officials, media persons, businessmen in order to fulfil their malicious intent were frequent. They just capture the common people to force the government authority to fulfil their demands. From this one may understand how common people suffer in the hands of these trickster. One can predict what will happen in the next moment. All this capturing, killing, abduction and other kinds of torture frequently happened. These can be seen in the lines of the bookCycle of Clichés where the author mentions, “Those days, it was casual for something to happen. Something like businessmen or government officers being abducted for ransom...”(P.144)            

Murder, abduction and other misfortune happens on a daily basis and one can't recognise this is today's incident or yesterday's. If someone tries to go against their ideology, they just kill them without having second thought. Just like the leading character got killed here in this particular book. The author Niladri Chakroborty discusses in the book where he says, “In the Principal's office across the large teakwood table, on the cushioned chair was Deuta, seated with his head tilted to the right, resting on the backrest, with his eyes closed. Lifeless. (P.146)

In the book Strangers of the Mist, we can also find how they try to convince the natives to go against these people who are not Assamese. No-one denies that they are staying here since the time of immemorial but since the people have different language structures, culture is different, questions are being raised by these people about their existence. They are also instigating natives to free their lands from these outsiders and at the same time they deserve a new land, separate country altogether. That is the reason insurgency is happening in these states. This is not one particular reason for that rather so many issues are there in this particular regard.     

Insurgencies all about how the people who are ruled by their own ideology without thinking about anything else. In this process only the common people do suffer, they get killed like anything. No one cares for them. They are just like unsung heroes the way it is also presented in this text. Whatever is happening here in the text taken as primary sources, this represents the life of each and every outsider. How they live, how they are struggling to survive amidst all the chaos.This is just the instance of one single case. So many incidents like this happened on the daily basis and people of that particular area are very much used to this. It doesn't affect them much. Just like this so many people are being killed by these insurgent groups. They are counted as nothing because they are different from the real martyrs who sacrificed their life on the border for the sake of country and countrymen.

These casualties are just numbers for them. Since they belong to a different region. In this foreign land this is the fate of these outsiders. No-one tries to find out what has happened, what went wrong, whether the culprits deserve punishment or not. No-one cares for them. There is the fear in that particular environment which seems as, if someone from these outsiders go against the ideology of the insurgent groups the only end result is death.It is evident in the text where the author NiladriChakroberty discussed hoe the people around would justify this incident by saying, “with deep sighs and moistened eyes they added that he was perhaps destined to meet his end in the hands of his own people. He should not have soared that high, they often conclude. Don't soar too high, don't stop too low when you have wings of wax.” (P.148)  

From this discussion one can see how people are heartless for each other, they don't have sympathy for these people. In spite of these people staying there for a long time no one has accepted them as their own people. Here  how people are justifying the act of agitation and terror in this manner. 

For the insurgent groups, what the outsiders mean, when these people have different origins and they come to settle here, these non-natives take share from everything that is there only for the natives. With the arrival they are snatching everything from them such as- land, job even culture. What is happening with culture, through this social assimilation process each other's culture is getting mixed up and a new kind of culture is being created. These people don't want this mix-up culture. For this they just wanted to make their land free from these outsiders. The kind of statements which are being used in this book Cycle of Clichés, which justifies the idea of who is an outsider and what they showed accordingly,
“Actually... your mother is Bengali and your father was Assamese. Bengalis are outsiders, aren't they? So, you are basically a half outsider. You should not expect everything we get as insiders and be happy with whatever we give you.”(P-213)                      

And the similar things can be seen in the bookStrangers of Mist, here the author says – “Assamese must get out of India: what has Delhi done for you? It has exploited your resources and one day they will turn their soldiers and guns against you as they have done to us; he said Assam and Nagaland must be together, otherwise they will suffer separately. Together we can face India (P.88)                             

Where we can see how these people are opposing the outsiders as well as the government authorities of India by saying how they are suffering because of these people. They should leave this place since the natives are facing hurdles for this. And if they are staying, they should follow the rules that the natives have without questioning them. This is their demand from the outsiders as well as from the government authorities.    

Issues regarding language creates so much chaos in that field. The natives have the feeling that the authority is more focused on the language 'Hindi' than other languages. This is creating problems for the people who are facing difficulties to communicate, understand and reciprocate by using a different language altogether. So this is also a reason of conflict in the society. 

In this textCycle of Clichés, one may notice how these people are leading a life after their world is being scattered by the insurgents. They are struggling to get a good life. Because the source of income or the breadwinner is no more. And being an outsider, one can't think of taking revenge from these people since it is absolutely a thoughtless idea. This would create more chaos in their life as well as in society. They just try to forget what has happened and focuses on what is the need of the hour and that is to survive. Which can be justified from the statements- “Ma was worried as usual until Nissim narrated one night how his younger brother toiled fourteen to fifteen hours every night, to earn some extra rupees as incentives and overtime allowances over and above his salary.” (P.375)
These are the issues for which both natives and the non-natives face issues in these areas for the prejudices they have regarding their existence.

Literary texts as the voice of human hearts:

A few years prior to the modern era, these insurgencies were regarded as regional conflict only and were limited to that particular margin only. People belonging to mainstream society had no clue of what was happening in these regions. What kind of lives these natives and nonnatives are leading over there. Why the outsiders were being killed by the insurgent groups. How these people over there leading a life having an imaginary fear in their heart and mind. Their stories, sufferings, struggle, homicide everything was just a mystery to the world there. Due to the lack of communication facilities, they remain alien for the rest of the world. Solely guided by the prejudices they used to instigate war against the government.  The innocent common people became the first casualties of this violence. This shows how internal conflicts are more detrimental than the external conflicts.          

And now things have changed a lot. This regional issue has become a global issue right now. Due to the development of mass media and communication, we are getting information about everything in just a few seconds.From the above discussion we can see how the writers of contemporary are coming to the forefront to share their experiences as a victim as well as an observer. They are sharing the minute details of the incidents bravely. And literary texts like, Cycle of Clichés by NiladriChakraborty and Strangers of the Mist are perfect examples of this kind of work, where the minute details are being described to let the world know what they are going through.           

Just like these two books, other books are also written in this context. Such as - These Hills Called Home: Stories from a War Zone by TemsulaAo, where he is talking about how common people are suffering due to war and violence, how they handle it. This story is not only about a particular region rather it is about nation, nationality, identity, struggle and details dealing with war and struggle is presented comprehensively in their books.     

In the beginning as well we have discussed how the neighbouring countries just like China and others are providing weapons to these insurgent groups. And this is working as a fuel to burn the country completely. Which we can also find in the recent insurgencies that happened in Manipur. Several measures are being taken to get rid of all these insurgencies. So many peace accords are signed by authority to maintain the stability in these North-eastern zones. The authority is working to convince the people who are in favour of insurgency. Which are happening through communication, education and by providing them with basic amenities. There should also be a systematic approach to deal with these sensitive issues.

Geographical connectivity is the key, if our intention is keeping them up to date, through this they will not feeling alienated and their malicious behaviour can be controlled.  Through rigorous communication their prejudices and ideologies can be changed. Steps should also be taken to empower these people at the same time we should give them scope to get together with the mainstream society. They should be invited to show their talent on the centralised platforms. Through this the imaginary fear of outsiders and insiders will get resolved. Developmental plans and schemes should also execute the it is happening in mainstream society. Overall development is need of the hour; without it nothing can happen. So many people were killed and if we don't work to make things stable by eradicating these social evils. This is the way through which we can pay them homage in our society. Rigorous efforts in this particular direction to make things better will make things much better than before.

1. Academy, Dristi IAS . “North East Insurgency.” Distiias, DristiIas, 10 May 2019, www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper3/north-east-insurgency.

2. Ao, Temsüla. These Hills Called Home Stories from a War Zone. New Delhi Zubaan, 2006, www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/7208496.

3. Chakraborty, Niladri. Cycle of Clichés. Ukioto, 2 Feb. 2021, g.co/kgs/WC2kKb.

4. Hazarika, Sanjoy. Strangers of the Mist. Penguin, 14 Oct. 2000, g.co/kgs/V5QFZH.

5. Kashyap, Aruni. How to Tell the Story of an Insurgency. Harper Collins, 25 Jan. 2020, www.bookchor.com/book/9789353576523/how-to-tell-the-story-of-an-insurgency-fifteen-tales-from-assam.