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Abstract
This article is a scholarly review of the book "Insurgent Crossfire: North-East India" by the journalist and scholar Subir Bhaumik. The reviewer assesses the book's significant contribution to the understanding of the complex and multi-layered insurgencies in India's northeastern states. The review summarizes the book's main arguments, which likely cover the historical roots of the conflicts, the ethnic and political grievances of the various insurgent groups, and the role of external powers in supporting them. The reviewer evaluates the strengths of Bhaumik's analysis, particularly its deep, field-based research and its nuanced understanding of the intricate dynamics of the region. The review also offers a critical perspective on the book's conclusions or interpretations. It concludes by affirming the book's status as an essential and authoritative text for scholars, journalists, and policymakers seeking to understand one of South Asia's most protracted and complex conflict zones.
Full Text
This article provides a critical review of Subir Bhaumik's seminal work, "Insurgent Crossfire: North-East India." The review begins by highlighting the book's importance in shedding light on a region often neglected in mainstream scholarship on India. It summarizes the author's central thesis: that the insurgencies in the Northeast are not a monolithic phenomenon but a complex "crossfire" of multiple, often competing, ethnic nationalisms, further complicated by the meddling of external intelligence agencies. The reviewer praises the book for its remarkable empirical depth, which is based on the author's extensive and often dangerous fieldwork as a journalist in the region. The review would likely discuss Bhaumik's detailed accounts of the major insurgent groups, his analysis of the Indian state's counter-insurgency strategies, and his path-breaking work on the role of neighboring countries, including Bangladesh, Myanmar, and China, in providing sanctuary and support to the militants. The review would offer a balanced critique, engaging with Bhaumik's arguments and perhaps pointing to areas where the analysis could be expanded. It concludes by firmly establishing "Insurgent Crossfire" as a classic and indispensable resource, a foundational text for any serious study of the conflicts in North-East India, valued for its rich detail and its sophisticated, multi-layered analysis.