Synopsis The book makes a critical intervention in contemporary discourses on Human Rights and examines them in the context of insurgency, particularly in North-East India. The institutionalization of human rights has made the modern nation-states and international bodies like the United Nations, the custodian of individual and collective rights. The violation of human rights takes place when such bodies and the state assume the role of "hegemonic actor in the public realm’. Insurgency, as a counter hegemonic discourse appropriates the various agencies of statist domination, posing a threat to the legitimacy of the state. However, the primary concern here is to locate the subject of the drama of hegemonic and counter-hegemonic violence-women, children and innocent masses who suffer the worst casualty on this tension. Such a politics of tension can be resolved to a great extent by creating a space for dialogue among activists, academics, bureaucrats, philosophers and feminists, who occupy different positions centering round the conflict. An attempt has been made here to bring together a host of critical views from these various perspectives. This book would be immensely useful to scholars and social activists who are looking for a starting point for a dialogic encounter in a climate of confusion and unrest in NE India.