Bagmita Borthakur and Bishaldeep Kakati
India’s internal security landscape has been reshaped over the past six years through a mix of conflict resolution, legal reform, cyber and narcotics enforcement, and disaster resilience. What sets this period apart is the measurable results delivered through systemic and institutional change. At the centre of this transformation stands the Union Home Ministry. In August 2025, Amit Shah became India’s longest-serving Union Home Minister, surpassing L.K. Advani’s record. This milestone matters not just for its symbolism, but because it coincides with a period in which the Northeast, long troubled by insurgency and instability, witnessed some of the most significant changes in its post-independence history. This six-year tenure of the Home Ministry has been defined by a focus on peace, security, and stability, and the data reveal a transformation that has altered the region’s political and social fabric in measurable ways. This record invites a clear-eyed assessment of what his tenure has delivered, and where it still faces stress tests.
For decades, the Northeast was viewed through the lens of conflict. Insurgency movements, ethnic clashes, and fragile governance combined to make it one of India’s most sensitive regions. Violence was endemic, ambushes on security forces were routine, civilians lived under the shadow of fear, and the symbolised a state of permanent exception. Shah’s tenure marked a decisive attempt to reverse this reality. Between 2019 and 2025, the Home Ministry facilitated twelve peace agreements with insurgent and tribal groups, ranging from accords with the NLFT in 2020 and the Bru-Reang in 2021 to settlements with Karbi groups, ULFA factions, and boundary arrangements between Assam and Meghalaya and later Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. These negotiations collectively persuaded more than 10,500 insurgents to surrender their arms and rejoin society. The results have been striking, as violent incidents fell by 71 per cent, casualties among security forces declined by 72 per cent, and civilian deaths dropped by 85 per cent. In a region that had grown accustomed to cycles of bloodshed, these numbers tell a story of hard-won normalcy.
Equally historic was the gradual withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. For decades, this law had given sweeping powers to the armed forces, fuelling resentment among local populations. The home ministry in the past six years has completely removed AFSPA from Tripura and Meghalaya and significantly scaled back in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland. Its shrinking footprint represents both a measure of confidence in the security environment and an acknowledgement of the people’s demand for normal policing and democratic accountability. By reducing the reliance on extraordinary laws, the Home Ministry signalled that the Northeast was moving from a state of exception toward integration with the developmental rhythm of the rest of the country.
Peace, however, was not just about ending violence; it was also about resolving structural issues that had long kept the region unstable. One of the most consequential developments of this tenure was the settlement of border disputes, which for decades had been flashpoints of tension and violence. In 2022, seventy per cent of the Assam-Meghalaya boundary dispute was resolved, followed by a 700-kilometre pact with Arunachal Pradesh in 2023. These agreements prevented disputes from spiralling into violence and created conditions for greater interstate cooperation. For communities living along contested borders, these settlements meant an end to uncertainty and the assurance of belonging.
The peace-building process was also reinforced through rehabilitation and development. The Bru-Reang agreement, for instance, resettled 37,000 displaced families, providing them with homes, schools, and healthcare facilities, as well as skill training for young people. The Bodoland Accord safeguarded cultural rights while simultaneously attracting new investments. Beyond these targeted interventions, the Home Ministry invested heavily in infrastructure. Nearly Rs 82,000 crore in railways, Rs 41,500 crore in highways, and Rs 47,000 crore in rural roads were invested in this tenure. Air connectivity expanded with new routes and helicopter services, while the Vibrant Village Programme allocated Rs 4,800 crore to Arunachal Pradesh, reframing border settlements from being India’s “last villages” to its “first villages.” These measures ensured that peace was not only a political settlement but also a lived reality of economic opportunity and connectivity.
The Home Ministry also recognised that the Northeast’s security vulnerabilities were linked to its geography. Bordering the “Golden Triangle,” the region had long been exploited by narcotics traffickers, with proceeds fuelling insurgent activity. Shah’s tenure saw the launch of the NCORD framework and the expansion of narcotics intelligence platforms such as NIDAAN and SIMS. Between 2019 and 2024, India seized 7.37 million kilograms of narcotics worth Rs 1.1 lakh crore, including 23,000 kilograms of synthetic drugs valued at Rs 14,000 crore, and destroyed over 2.53 million kilograms of contraband. By attacking the supply chains, the ministry cut into the financial lifelines that had sustained insurgencies and criminal networks in the region.
Natural disasters have been another recurring source of instability in the Northeast. Frequent floods and landslides compounded the hardships of conflict. To address this, allocations to disaster response funds increased fourfold for SDRF and threefold for NDRF, with over Rs 25,000 crore released in 2024-25 alone. The Common Alerting Protocol, launched in 2021, issued more than 631 crore geo-targeted warnings, while the North Eastern Space Applications Centre in Meghalaya was integrated into flood management and planning. These measures meant that stability was reinforced not only by disarmament but also by resilience against natural shocks that had historically destabilised communities.
Taken together, these developments show that Amit Shah’s six-year tenure as Home Minister was not just the longest but also one of the most consequential, particularly for Northeast India. Each of these outcomes fits into a governance model where peace processes, law enforcement, and development converge to secure stability. The Northeast today stands as the clearest evidence of this approach: a region once defined by militancy and alienation now presenting signs of stability and opportunity. Yet challenges remain in certain pockets, showing that peace is still fragile and demands constant negotiation. For India’s longest-serving Home Minister, the enduring legacy lies in demonstrating that measurable progress is possible in even the most complex regions, though sustaining it will require not just political will and data-backed governance, but also inclusive reconciliation and local trust-building.
Bagmita Borthakur (PhD Research Scholar, BITS Pilani) and Bishaldeep Kakati (Advocate, Gauhati High Court)
