The question of political identity among various ethnic groups emerges as a result of persistent experiences of marginalization in political, economic, cultural and other spheres which is expressed through the growing middle class and educated elite. The North-east states of India have various ethnic communities such as Naga, Mizo, Khasi, Jaintia, Garo, Rengma, Bodo, Kuki and Deori and those in Arunachal Pradesh who have attained their political rights at various historical times and asserted their identities. Here we focus on the Karbi ethnic community in Assam and their growing political consciousness for identity, who are also demanding their political rights to have control over their own affairs in a form of separate statehood. Therefore, the identity discourse among different ethnicities in the North-east India has remained in the political forefront. There are various factors like folklores and memory that helped in the formation of Karbi identity, tracing their marginalization during the colonial period under the British and the dominant Assamese ethnicity in the post independent period. It also talks about the post-independence problems and complications that led to social unrest including the formation of insurgent groups among the Karbis. The question of identity has therefore become a dominant theme among Karbis too taking various political trajectories giving rise to multiple regional political parties and armed groups. The quest for Karbi identity has therefore remained inconclusive, problematic and volatile in the rapidly changing political climate.
