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Indian democracy is experiencing various uprisings in the regions of Central and Eastern India, Jammu & Kashmir and North-Eastern regions. However, the nature and causative factors of these uprisings are different. The insurrection in Central India is popularly known as “largest internal security threat” that the country is facing as described by former Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh in 2006. The insurrections of Jammu & Kashmir and North-Eastern regions have strong identity base and assumed the form of insurgencies. The failure of the parliamentary democracy in implementing the provisions of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution and the inadequacy of the revolutionary politics of the CPI (Maoist) in delivering good governance to the people indicate the need for alternative politics. These alternative politics may be called as Anthropolitics where human dignity and rights of an individual preferred over the power-centred politics.

The growing rise of demand for the reservation by some of the socially influential communities exerts pressure on the elected governments, especially at the state level. This will considerably reduce the reservation space available for the genuine communities who are facing jaati based discrimination and exclusion in socio-political governance. The reluctance of the Indian State to conduct a jaati (caste) census across the country is an indication of the use of reservations for the electoral gains rather than using it as a tool for achieving social equality and justice. The caste census is a kind of double-edged sword and has large political ramifications. The extension of reservation benefits without scientific basis/criteria is counterproductive as it pushes more and more dominant communities into the ambit of affirmative action, thereby depriving the benefits to the genuine communities who are at the bottom of the socio-political order.

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The article focuses upon the relationship between agrarian relations, mode of land acquisition by the state and insurrections that took place in India after 1947. It attempts to analyse the linkages of land relations between peasants and landlords. More specifically it looks at the nature of association with the land, changes occurred in the nature and perspective of relationship due to changes in the perspective towards development. It analyses how the changing role of state in acquiring the land for developmental outcomes has led to variety of social uprisings in the form of insurrections. Insurrections are modest attempts to alter the power relations of the society with reference to land ownership and rights. Insurrections are challenges to the outcome of good governance. There is a need to design proper governance institutional arrangements to contain the insurrections arising due to land conflicts in the process of pursuit of development.