Ethno-Politics in Northeast India and the Lure of the Urban Mainland

Migration, can be caused by a coagulation of factors. The objective of this conceptual review paper is to look at the causal factors of out-migration from the northeast region (NER) such as education, employment, marriage, and conflict situations. Datasets from the last three decadal censuses have been optimally referred to analyse the trend and causes. Pertinent factors of the northeast such as its history, ethnicity, civil unrest, and lack of development have been reviewed sourcing literature from JSTOR and google scholar, using the keywordslisted below. The paper argues that a way to quell this paradoxical need to migrate and being displaced is by developing the NER. A conflict-ridden environment and the slow pace of development remains the overarching push factor for out-migration from the northeast and the resultant displacement. There is a strong need to help eliminate the feelings of alienation faced by these migrants and to not treat them as some cheap ‘exotic’ species, meant to fuel the hospitality industry of the mainland. A limitation of this paper is that census data is available only up to 2011. But wherever possible, unique datasets and relevant literature have been optimised to argue the case.