An important contribution of Indian national movement had been to forge India's unity cutting across class, caste, ethnic and religious divides. This had been achieved as a struggle against colonialism. The Indian State tried to create a legal framework in which Hindus and Muslims could live together. The problem however, has persisted. As late as 1993 the Bombay communal riots and then recently the communal riots in Godhra in Gujarat are indications that the communal tensions persist within the Indian society and polity and is likely to remain a fundamental challenge. Apart from this there is a major challenge which the Indian nation faces in the North-East. Here tribes with territorial and kinship ties spreading over several states and even national boundaries are in a struggle for defining their self-determination, Social and economic neglect of these tribes during the British rule has compounded the problem.