Nation Building and Armed Conflicts : The North East Experience In India's North East, the process of nation building has come into conflict with societies and communities who see themselves as small but distinctive nations. In the overall context, this problem has been addressed largely by reorganization of the Indian states on the basis of language. In the North Eastern region, similar reorganization was not possible because of the large number of languages and dialects prevalent. Nevertheless, the Indian union created seven states namely; Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya. These have functioned as states/union territories with their legislatures and elected governments. Notwithstanding this, armed conflict has continued in the regions and in most states on the basis of sub-national identities. In keeping with this, the Delhi Policy Group sought to develop a dialogue and discourse in India on understanding how the Indian nation-building enterprise has led to armed conflicts. Thus, a dialogue process was enunciated to examine the nation building and armed conflict linkages in the region. An analysis of India's national perspective and those of the ethnic groups engaged in armed conflict with the Indian state provided new insights into the problem. It also addressed the question of whether these conflicts could have been avoided; and further, what can be done to harmonized the contrary needs of national and sub-national identities. Perspectives from those who were part of governance system, and those who have lived through this armed conflict brought constructive insights. The first significant activity, in the project funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office commenced with a seminar on 13-14 March 2006 on the subject of "Nation Building and Armed Conflict". There were six presentations made by experts from the North East viz. Mr.Pinaki Bhattacharya, Dr. Samir Das, Mr. Ruata Rengsi, Mr. Pradip Phanjoubham, Mr. Yambem Laba and Prof. Bijoykumar Singh. Each presentation was followed by an open discussion. Academicians, policy makers, journalists and others from New Delhi were also part of the deliberations. The second workshop was organized on 20-22 August 2006 in New Delhi on "Conflicts in the North East: Media Challenges". An analysis of India's national perspective and those of the ethnic groups engaged in armed conflict with the Indian state provided new insights into the problem. Perspectives from those part of the media in the North East, and those in the mainstream also brought constructive inputs .Thus , there was strong representation from those in the media from the North East from all leading dailies (in the English language), as well as from Delhi. Some presenters & participants from the North-East and Delhi are listed below: Dr. Samir Das, Reader, Political Science, Calcutta University Mr. Pinaki Bhattacharya, Special Correspondent, Mathrubhumi Mr. Yambem Laba, Acting Chair, Manipur State Human Rights Commission Mr.Ruata Rengsi, Prof, North East Hill University Prof. Bijoykumar Singh, Department of Economics, Manipur University Mr. Pradip Phanjoubam, Editor, Imphal Free Press Mr. Samudragupta Kashyap, The Indian Express Mr. Sanjib Deb, The Asian Age Ms. Monalisa Changkiza, Editor, Nagaland Page Mr. David Thangliana, Editor, The Telegraph Mr. Anirban Roy, Special Correspondent, The Hindustan Times Mr. Subir Bhaumik, Chief of East India Bureau, BBC World Service Mr. Jeffrey Yaden, Editor, Nagaland Post Mr. Charles Chasie, Catholic Publication Centre Mr. Sanjoy Hazarika, Director, Centre for NE Studies & Research Mr. Deepak Dewan, Executive Editor, North East Sun Mr. Bharat Bhushan, Editor, The Telegraph Mr. Nitin Gokhale, Senior Editor (Defence & Strategic Affairs), NDTV Mr. Utpal Borpujari, Chief Correspondent, The Deccan Herald Ms. Seema Mustafa, Resident Editor, The Asian Age Mr. B. G. Verghese, Columnist and Fellow, Centre for Policy Research Col. (Retd.) Anil Bhat, Syndicated Freelancer, (Wordsworth Features & Media)