Social scientists have attributed the settlement of Nepalis in Northeast India, since the 1820s, to their migratory nature, either in search of economic opportunities or of grazing lands for cattle crucial to their primary vocation of milk production. During the last years of the twentieth century, every state in Northeast India has witnessed discrimination and persecution against the Nepalis, leading to the massive internal displacement of settlers. Anti-foreigner movements all over Northeast India, triggered by the 'son of the soil' agitation in Assam, the Assam Movement (1979-85), which sought to have Nepali and Bangladeshi migrants deported to their respective countries of origin, have made these migrants vulnerable to growing instances of atavistic backlash.

The 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty, which ensures equal rights and privileges for nationals of India and Nepal in both countries, and the open border between them, reinforces the belief among Indians that Indian-Nepalis are also citizens of Nepal. This myth of a double homeland makes them soft targets of ethnic group assertions fighting over scarcely available resources often leading to loss of home, hearth and livelihood. Like other internally displaced populations - such as the Reangs moving from Mizoram to Tripura, and the Kukis and Nagas in Manipur and Nagaland respectively - the Nepalis have experienced a spillover impact.

The British practice of settling ethnic outsiders as cheap labour for various industries, as farmers to sow the enormous fallow fields of the Brahmaputra valley, or as clerks in the lower echelons of the bureaucracy, added the migrant-native dimension to the crisis in the region. In the past century, the Northeast's population has swollen from around one million to more than 20 million. Almost all the states of Northeast India have, at some time or the other, experienced political mobilisation and organised violence against migrants, anti-outsider movements leading to victimization, the expulsion of communities of migrant origin, and at times even ethnic cleansing of non-indigenous groups. This identity politics laid an exclusive claim to a land that had emerged as a shared homeland since the earliest times. What began as ethnic tension between 'indigenous' and 'foreign' groups, turned into ethnic conflict.

The process of migration of the Nepalis in Northeast India, Darjeeling, and Southern Bhutan began about two centuries ago with the recruitment of Gorkha soldiers into the British Indian Army after the treaty of Sugauli (1816). The British who wanted a hardy labour force for their tea plantations facilitated the Nepali migration to Darjeeling while in Sikkim, the Nepalis served as a wedge to contain the Bhutias.

Anti-Nepali feeling in Northeast India was first observed during the Assam Movement. Although the targets were the illegal migrants from Bangladesh, the Nepalis were also included in the anti-foreigner discourse. Allegations of Nepalis from Northeast India crossing over to side with the Lhotshampas and of their leaders, fleeing to Assam, probably encouraged the targeting of Nepalis in Northeast India in ethnic assertions and backlashes. They were largely caught in the crossfire between the Assamese anti-foreigner agitation and the Bodo Movement.

Although the government of India had clarified its position on the Nepalis early in February 1984 - that those in possession of the Restricted Area Permit would not come within the definition of 'illegal migrants' and stood protected - their position was soon threatened by the agitation for a separate Bodoland. The Nepali population in the Bodo Autonomous Council (BAC) areas in Western Assam was only 2.5 per cent and in no way large enough to constitute a threat to the Bodos. However, the presence of the Nepalis along with the 63 per cent non-Bodos (Bodos make up 34 per cent) constituted a major threat according to the Bodos. During the ethnic cleansing of these areas a considerable number of Nepalis were displaced.

In Manipur, the sentiment took the form of a movement that in 1980 manifested itself in direct attacks on the Nepalis, compelling many of them to relocate and flee to safer areas. Meghalaya, saw similar sectarian violence in 1987. The violence primarily targeted the Nepali minority living in Shillong, Jowai and other parts of Meghalaya, which had over 150,000 Nepalis. Most of the Nepali people fled but the worst affected were the dairy farmers who had to give up their occupation and leave the state. Today, most of the displaced from Meghalaya and Manipur are settled in Rupandehi, Jhapa, Banke and other parts of Nepal's terai region, besides Kathmandu and Pokhara. The anti-foreigner upsurge also spread to Mizoram and Nagaland where again Nepalis suffered violence and eviction.

Keeping in view the geopolitics of the Northeast - it has contiguous borders with Bangladesh, Myanmar, China and Nepal - the question of internally displaced persons will not always remain internal to the concerned countries. There is always a possibility that due to inattention, there might be a spillover across the borders, thereby affecting peace in South Asia. As such, the internal displacement question in the Northeast is an issue of concern not only of the Indian state but also for the whole of South Asia.