India is having its moment. Having shed the bonds of colonialism, years of bitter civil strife and a stagnant economy, the country boasts nine percent growth a year with a capable middle class and world-beating industry whose latest feat is the mass production of a $2,500 car.
Published June 28, 2008
Vast ethnic diversity, geography and under-development have bred dozens of separatist movements in India's far-eastern Assam state. But these same factors that gave rise to spasms of violence throughout the region over the last 20 years have also had a containing effect: Militant groups have run up against each other, in addition to the Indian military.
Now several ethnic-based factions, such as the National Democratic Front of Boroland, in Western Assam, have declared cease-fires with the Indian government to secure greater rights through dialogue and the ballot. Provided economic opportunities increase and a degree of greater autonomy is granted, there is hope that the calm will last, consolidating India's outpost in Southeast Asia.
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Jason Motlagh recounts how he first teamed up with the Pulitzer Center, which kick-started his career as an independent journalist reporting in war zones in India and Afghanistan.
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Grantee
Jason Motlagh is a multimedia journalist who was until recently TIME Magazine’s Kabul correspondent. He has reported from around Afghanistan and more than 30 countries for leading US and...
