Insurgency and Governance: An Empirical Study of Tripura, India

The insurgency movement or social conflict took place in the Indian state of Tripura for a period of three and half decades, i.e., 1980- 2014. Under these circumstances, the paper tries to analyze whether governance plays an active role in conflict management in Tripura or insurgency negatively affected governance. Based on time series data (1983-84 to 2019-20) and using ARDL model the causal relationship between insurgency and governance is analysed, which shows that there exists a long run co-integration between insurgency and governance and both the variables affect each other negatively. In the short run insurgency has a negative impact on governance, but no causality is found from governance to insurgency. This study sets an example that the practice of good governance is an instrument for resolving and controlling ethnic insurgency in any poly-ethnic societies of India and abroad, and restoring ethnic harmony through the implementation of its public policy, and makes an original contribution to the literature on conflict studies across the globe.