The northeast Indian, a bitter conflict which caused thousand deaths in 2007

New Delhi, April 25, 2008. - Although the world knows Kashmir as the main conflict that threatens to India, is in the northeast of the territory where there has been a drain by the action of some thirty separatist groups, that the year last killed 1,091 people.
The small northeastern states of India, an underdeveloped corner and just connected by a strip of land with the rest of the country have seen their armed groups opted for terrorism against civilians, often immigrants from other regions in search of Indian job.
"The situation has improved in Kashmir. Now the east is the main challenge. There are groups like United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) to attack people of different ethnicity, "a source told Efe the Indian Ministry of Interior.
The conflicts of the northeast have been ranked as the bloodiest, ahead of the Maoist rebellion (837 dead) and Kashmir, which killed 740 people including civilians, insurgents and members of security forces, according to two reports released this Interior weeks.
Nearly 1,500 violent acts recorded in 2007 in the Northeast took the lives of 498 civilians, 79 security officers and 514 insurgents, which in total represents an increase of 39 percent over the previous year.
The state of Assam, the largest and most important of the territories, which has its stronghold the ULFA, which in recent months has carried out a wave of attacks against civilians immigrants that has claimed the lives of 287 people.
"There are more deaths because the groups face each other and also attacked civilian targets more often. And then set off bombs in places where population is concentrated, "he told Efe the coordinator of the department of Peace Studies and Conflict at the University of Guwahati, Nani Gopal Mahanta.
In Assam there were more than 100 explosions last year, many in crowded markets, and attacks against members of minorities in non-Assamese origin, such as Hindi-speaking migrants from the plains of the Ganges.
Although the ULFA, fighting for independence since 1979, is the culprit identified by the police in many of the cases operated in the northeast around 30 groups scattered throughout the regions of Assam, Arunachal, Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura.
Their demands range from mere claims of independence and tribal rights.
The issue of engagement of the people of the northeast-an amalgam of different tribes, ethnicities and religions with a significant Christian presence, has been steady since independence of India.
The guerrillas have taken advantage of the long and porous borders of jungle that India shares with Bangladesh (4,095 km) and Myanmar (1,600 kilometers) to provide themselves with weapons or harass the troops from safe havens.
The Indian Army is deployed in a number of regions with both permanent and low-intensity fighting against insurgents as allegations of torture are constant.
The region of Assam is the fourth in India by number of detainees died in police custody, with 14 deaths last year, demonstrating that there are "serious" problems with human rights, as Mahanta.
In addition, the effervescence of armed activity has aggravated the economic crisis of these regions, which are linked to the rest of India by the arm known as the "Chicken Neck" and suffer from constant corporate exodus.
"Safety is the most important issue for investors, as well as poor infrastructure of the northeast," the deputy minister recently said Indian Commerce, Jairam Ramesh.
"Any investor wants a safe environment, without having to worry about bombs and stuff like that," he added.
Far from the booming Indian development centers, the Northeast is enclosed in a "logic of conflict" with armed groups facing civilians, the government, the army and to fight each other.
"The definitive political configuration of the region is still pending. Reforms are needed to give more importance to people, "agrees Mahanta.

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