India’s Strategies against Separatism in Assam, Punjab, and Kashmir, 1984–1994

• Published in: Secession and Security p. 83
• Main Author: Butt, Ahsan I
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Cornell University Press 15.11.2017
• Subjects: Anthropology; Armed conflict; Asian Politics; Assam; Behavioral sciences; Command and control; Criminal law; Criminal offenses; Ethnic groups; ethno-national separatism; Ethnology; Ethnoreligious groups; Federal criminal offenses; Government; Government services; Group identity; Hinduism; Hindus; India; Indian state; Insurgency; International politics; International relations; Jammu; Kashmiri nationalists; Law; Law enforcement; Military science; Military strategy; Muslim nationalism; National identity; Nationalism; Police; Police services; Political movements; Political science; Political sociology; Political violence; Politics; Psychology; Punjab; Religion; Secessionism; secessionist movements; Separatism; Sikh nationalism; Sikhism; Social psychology; Spiritual belief systems; Terrorism; Unconventional warfare; War; Warfare
• ISBN: 1501713949; 9781501713941
• DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501713941.003.0004

India is hardly a stranger to separatist conflict—no state has experienced as many secessionist movements.¹ I explore three movements that took place within half a decade of each other—Assam (1985–92), Punjab (1984–93), and Jammu and Kashmir (henceforth Kashmir, 1989–94). These movements represent the three “hotbed” regions of ethno-national separatism in India. Muslim and Sikh nationalism in Kashmir and Punjab dominated regional, national, and even international headlines for years. The Northeast, meanwhile, has proved problematic for India to placate for decades, featuring both ideological (primarily leftist or Marxist) and ethnic-based conflicts, and Assam is the central state