The Absence of Northeast India in NCERT Textbooks: Lessons from Anjel Chakma’s Tragedy

The Constitution of India tells us that our country is made of many different states and peoples, all equal and important. Yet when students open their NCERT textbooks, the book  read by every child in India they find very little about Northeast India. This region is home to 45 million people with hundreds of languages and cultures.

There are eight states in Northeast India, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and Sikkim. These culturally rich states form a strategically important region known for diverse landscapes, wildlife, and unique ethnic groups, serving as India's gateway to Southeast Asia. It is half of all the diversity in India. But our children learn almost nothing about it in school.

This is not just an educational problem. It has real consequences. It leads to hatred, discrimination, and sometimes violence against people from the Northeast.

A Death That Could Have Been Prevented

On December 9, 2025, a 24-year-old student named Anjel Chakma from Tripura was stabbed in Dehradun. His crime? He objected when someone used a caste-based slur against him. He died 15 days later from deep wounds. Five people were arrested for this attack.

Anjel’s death was not an accident. It happened because of a larger problem: most Indians do not know who people from the Northeast are. They do not know their history, culture, or contributions to India. This ignorance breeds prejudice.

Research shows that two out of three people from Northeast India living in other cities and towns have faced discrimination based on their appearance or origin. When asked why, most say it is because people simply do not know or understand the Northeast. This lack of knowledge is the root cause of hatred.

M.P Bezbaruah Committee (2014)

In 2014, another young man Nido Tania, 19 years old from Arunachal Pradesh was killed in Delhi under similar circumstances. The Ministry of Home Affairs set up the M.P. Bezbaruah Committee in February 2014 after the killing of Arunachal student Nido Tania in Delhi, with M.P. Bezbaruah (retd. IAS, Member of North Eastern Council) as its chairman to understand what went wrong. Its mandate was to examine the nature and causes of attacks, discrimination and insecurity faced by people from the North East living in metros and other parts of India, and to suggest remedial, including legal, measures.

Despite the formal “acceptance” of the report submitted by the committee to look into the concerns of the people of the North East living in other parts of the country by the Government of India, many structural recommendations of the committee remain on paper, and incidents of racial abuse and stereotyping persist in metros and towns. Implementation by January 2026 remains deeply incomplete. Measurable progress is limited to Delhi-specific policing initiatives (notably SPUNER and helpline 1093), while the committee’s core legal recommendations - amendments to create Sections 153C and 509A in the Indian Penal Code remain unacted upon more than 11 years after submission. The recent killing of Anjel Chakma, a Tripura student, in Dehradun in December 2025, has reignited scrutiny of these unimplemented recommendations and exposed systemic gaps that persist across India’s
metros and towns.

Committee submitted its report to MHA on 11 July 2014, a core recommendation area (Common Distilled List) is the curriculum reform. Mandated inclusion of Northeast India’s
history, culture, contributions to national development, and contemporary significance in
school and college textbooks at national and state levels.

Education and Curriculum Integration: Largely Unimplemented

Despite the Committee’s explicit recommendation for curriculum reform, progress has been minimal. Textbook revision at NCERT level has not been undertaken to “bring North East ethos in education,” as the Committee recommended. The absence of curriculum integration means that the stereotyping and “othering” of Northeast people in national discourse rooted in educational narratives persists in institutional settings.

The NCERT did publish a book called “North East India – People, History and Culture” in 2017. But this book is not part of the main course that every student must study. It sits on shelves, unread by the 250 million children who study from NCERT textbooks every year. The M.P Bezbaruah Committee spoke with over 800 people from Northeast organizations, government offices, and schools. Their finding was clear: The NCERT should teach students about Northeast India’s history, culture, and traditions in the main curriculum, not as optional extra reading. But nothing has really changed.

Why This Matters More Than We Think

When a textbook ignores a region, it sends a message to students: “This place and these
people are not important to India’s real story.” A student from Northeast India who opens their NCERT book might not find the great kingdoms of their ancestors, the freedom fighters from their region who fought for Indian independence, the unique systems of democracy their people developed, the languages, arts, and traditions that make India truly diverse.

Chapters on all 8 Northeast states are effectively missing from NCERT history sections, a partial coverage of Meghalaya and recently Assam’s oversimplified coverage and factual issues. This invisibility hurts. Research across different countries show that students who feel ignored or marginalized in their own national curriculum have lower motivation to study. They do less well in school. They develop a sense that they do not truly belong in India. Meanwhile, students from other parts of India grow up thinking the Northeast is not part of “real India.” This ignorance is the soil in which discrimination grows.

The Real Story We Are Missing

Northeast India is not a footnote in Indian history. It is central to understanding who we are as
a nation.

The Ahom dynasty ruled Assam for nearly 600 years with sophisticated systems of governance. Manipur’s history, marked by its ancient kingdom, unique cultural contributions like Manipur as the origin of Polo (Sagol Kangjei), its resistance against Burmese and British invasions (Seven years devastation, Anglo-Manipur War 1891), Manipur’s World War-II significance. Tripura had its own kingdom with unique political traditions. The people of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland developed distinct democratic practices and cultural systems. These are not exotic curiosities but they are essential parts of Indian civilization.

During India’s independence struggle, the Northeast produced important freedom fighters and
thinkers. The region played crucial roles in India’s wars and continues to be strategically vital
for India’s security and future. By leaving this out of textbooks, we are not just forgetting a region. We are teaching an incomplete, incorrect version of India itself to every child in the country.
Practical Steps to Fix NCERT’s Inadequate Northeast Coverage

The Concurrent List status of education means shared responsibility but it also creates clear action paths. Here are practical, actionable steps at GOI, state, and civil society levels. These
connect directly to Bezbaruah’s unimplemented recommendations while leveraging federal
structure.

1. Immediate GOI Actions (NCERT/CBSE Lead)
Mandate NCERT Core Integration: Update Class 6-12 history/geography textbooks by
2026-27 academic year to include dedicated chapters on Northeast and kingdoms (like
Twipra, Kangleipak, Meghalaya’s Regions and others.), independence contributions, and
contemporary issues. Publish revised editions by June 2026, NCERT has done faster
revisions before.
CBSE Enforcement: Require all 50,000+ CBSE schools to use these books exclusively, with
teacher training modules mandatory for affiliation renewal.

2. State-Level Actions (Shared Duty)
Align State Boards: Northeast states (Manipur, Assam, etc.) lead by example by revising
their boards first, then urge other states via Chief Ministers’ forums. States like Kerala/Tamil
Nadu often customize NCERT; others can add Northeast modules without GOI approval.

3. Civil Society Roles
Citizens, write to your MLAs and MPs. Northeast State organizations lead the charge. Legal
push. Track progress.

Why This Is a Constitutional Duty
Article 1 of the Indian Constitution states “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.”,
each with its own identity, culture, and history. Yet NCERT textbooks ignore the 8 Northeast
states.

When 250 million children graduate from school without learning about half the country’s
diversity, we are failing to honor this constitutional promise. We are teaching them that some
Indians matter more than others. We are preparing them to accept discrimination as normal.

A Call to Action

Anjel Chakma died because most Indians did not know who he was or where he came from.
His death was tragic and preventable.

We cannot bring Anjel back. But we can ensure that his death was not meaningless. We can
make sure that future generations of students grow up knowing the real story of India. One
that includes the Northeast as a vital, respected part of our national identity. The pathway is clear. The committee recommendations exist. Teachers can be trained. Textbooks can be updated. What is needed is the will to do it.

A nation cannot truly be united if its children are taught an incomplete story of who they are.
India deserves better. Northeast India deserves better. Every student deserves to learn the full
truth about their country.