By Shanzay Waseem

A human is first recognized in this world by its nationality,then is categorized by its religion and profession.However when your own country disowns you,refuses to facilitate you,treats you as a foreigner or a refugee that is when an individual starts to rebel and finds its own identity within the cracks of boundaries set by its own nation.

And this ignorance of the state to own these citizens can be seen in the contemporary times in the seven sisters of India.These seven sisters of India are located in the north-eastern region of the country and they include:Tripura,Mizoram,Meghalaya,Arunachal Pradesh,Manipur,Nagaland and Assam.They are all connected with each other through similar cultures,tribal customs,and inter-connectedness of their geographical positions and hence have been collectively termed as the seven sisters.

However, despite Article 15 of the Indian Constitution which states that ALL citizens of India are equal and no discrimination should be done on the basis of religion,caste,creed.Still discrimination lies at the grass root level in the minds of all,whether it be caste discrimination against the Dalit community or the south indians against their regional languages and culture or the north -easterners against their nationality clashing with their facial characteristics.

The north easterners face a bigger dilemma of discrimination against all as they are blatantly ignored by the government for their needs,resources and facilities ,leading to a feeling of being disowned by their own country, and this feeling may lead to seeds to hatred sown in their minds as to have a separate state of their own just as the people of east -pakistan (now Bangladesh) had felt and non-state entities used their feelings as a leverage to make it separate from Pakistan into an entirely different state. It shows how in-equality leads to rebellion.These states can easily be cut off from India and India, despite knowing that their national security and sovereignty is at risk, has been taking no steps to strengthen it.

Furthermore,racial discrimination acts as a slow poison slowly encompassing the minds of individuals of north east indians to demand for separation maybe in the future as after the death of Angel Chakma a MBA student from Tripura studying in Uttarakhand was killed with iron rods over a racial slur by few men calling him Chinki, over which his last words was,I am an Indian not a Chinese .There were massive protests in various regions however the outcome was nothing .

This is only one of the many examples of anti-state elements which india itself is giving birth to by neglecting strict action or laws against racial discrimination as it causes individuals to feel separate from their national identityand may take up a separate state ideology for their identity just like Sikh community is doing so by demanding Khalistan.Regional discrimination was used by non-state actors poisioning east pakistani citizens establising a separate Bangladesh in their minds causing them to hate the Punjabis in West Pakistan by stating regional in-equality favouring west punjabis over east bangalis,which was the trigger for the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.

Siliguri corridor (India s chicken neck) is 22 km which connects these states from the rest of the India and if this corridor is under control the seven sisters would be separated from India .Above this corridor Nepal is situated and below is Bangladesh.India has rocky relationship with Nepal in terms of it depending on the government in power in Nepal and its relationship with India.

As with Bangladesh,India has good relations with it as long as Sheikh Hasina stays in power because of their historical ties with India related to their independence.

However china on the other hand,claims arunachal pradesh to be a part of south Tibet and claims it to be its part hence keeps an eye on these states .As well as it is said that China makes sure that India and Pakistan keep their energies towards Kashmir so that the north eastern borders of India would be free to be indulged into .China also eyes on Doklam in Bhutan as it is a pathway from where China can eye over the Silliguri corridor easily to watch over all of india s movements there.Apart from it ,an airport India has made agreements of transport and logistics through Bangladesh to the north-eastern region in times of war or emergency if the Siliguri corridor is cut off,however if Bangladesh refuses for cooperation India would be cut into half just like Pakistan was.

China has always been a state of hawkseye vision and a great businessman therefore,it has been investing in Lalmonirat airport which is just 20km from the Indian border and 100 km from the Silliguri Corridor .It was used as an airfield in WWII by the allied forces(Soviet union,US and UK) however it fell into disuse post independence in 1947 and then it was briefly used by Pakistan in 1958.Lalmonirat airport has been dormant for quite a while however, Bangladesh Prime Minister Mohammed Yunus started an initiative to revive British era airports including the Lalmonirat airport.

The airport holds vital importance because an airbase so close to India’s chicken neck is a national security threat to India.According to Mohammad Yunus statement of reviving the airport for civilian purposes is clear ,its dual use can send shivers to India as China can gather intelligence through it and any military movement from the Indian side can be noted.

These were all the steps through which either seven sisters of india can be separated into a new state or indian government can redo their overlookings by strengtheing their national security .