India, July 22 -- A generation in Assam grew up with a quiet but persistent sense of alienation. It was taught, by experience as much as by politics, to believe that Delhi looked upon Assam and the North East with indifference. This was not entirely an imagined grievance. History gave it substance; policy often reinforced it. For decades, many in Assam felt that the region was remembered only in moments of crisis and forgotten in moments of national planning.

I belong to that generation.

From my early years in public life, I had seen how deeply this feeling ran in Assam's collective mind. It shaped conversations, sharpened agitations and influenced aspirations. The belief that Delhi looked at Assam through the eyes of a stepmother had b...