Nellie massacre

Nellie massacre
The Nellie massacre took place in central Assam during a six-hour period in the morning of 18 February 1983. The massacre claimed the lives of 1,600–2,000 people from 14 villages—Alisingha, Khulapathar, Basundhari, Bugduba Beel, Bugduba Habi, Borjola, Butuni, Dongabori, Indurmari, Mati Parbat, Muladhari, Mati Parbat no. 8, Silbheta, Borburi and Nellie—of Nagaon district. The victims were Muslim of Bengali origin. Three media personnel—Hemendra Narayan of The Indian Express, Bedabrata Lahkar of The Assam Tribune and Sharma of ABC—were witnesses to the massacre.
The violence that took place in Nellie by natives—mostly rural peasants—was seen as a fallout of the decision to hold the controversial state elections in 1983 in the midst of the Assam Agitation, after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's decision to give 4 million Bengali Muslims the right to vote. It has been described as one of the worst pogroms since World War II and one of the deadliest pogroms against a minority community in post partition India.
A documentary, What the Fields Remember, has been produced by Public Service Broadcasting Trust.
Context
In 1978, Lok Sabha member Hiralal Patwari died, necessitating a by-election in the Mangaldoi Lok Sabha Constituency. During the process of the election it was noticed that the electorate had grown phenomenally. Investigation revealed that there had been mass inclusion of alleged illegal migrants. The All Assam Students Union (AASU) demanded that the elections be postponed until the names of "foreign nationals" were deleted from the electoral rolls. The AASU subsequently launched an agitation to compel the government to identify and expel allegedly illegal immigrants. The central government attempted to placate the Assamese by agreeing to proscribe any migrants who entered the state after March 1971 from voting, and proceeded with the elections. The Assamese, demanding an earlier cutoff date, were inimical to the government's decision, as were the Lalung tribals who resented the proliferation of Bengali immigrants onto their land. Conversely, the Bengali communities (both Hindu and Muslim) as well as the Plains Tribal Council of Assam, an organization comprising Boro indigenous tribals opposed to Assamese hegemony, supported the elections, and subsequent inter-ethnic violence unfolded.
The ethnic clash that took place in Nellie was seen as a fallout of the decision to hold the controversial Assembly elections in 1983 (boycotted by the AASU) despite stiff opposition from several elements in the state. Police officials had suggested to hold the polls in phases in order to avoid violence. According to then Assam Inspector General of Police, KPS Gill, there were 63 constituencies, where elections could have been held without any trouble. Among the rest, the Assam police had declared there were 23 constituencies where it was "impossible to hold any election." Nellie was cited as one of the "troubled" spots before the elections.
400 companies of Central Paramilitary Force and 11 brigades of the Indian Army were deployed to guard Assam while the polls were scheduled to take place in phases.
Inciting incident
The immediate cause of the massacre was Bengali immigrants kidnapping five Lalung families and raping two tribal girls. In retaliation, the Tiwa chiefs decided they must kill at least 700 Bengalis for each of their tribesmen killed, and consequently an all-out attack was launched on immigrant areas.
Massacre
The massacre itself took place on the morning of 18 February 1983, starting in Borbori village. It was perpetrated by a mob of a few hundred Tiwas, who targeted Nellie and 14 other Muslim-majority villages in the area. In Nellie the mob burnt many houses and also placed itself at all the roads and exits to the village, killing anyone who tried to escape. The massacre lasted until dusk. Anywhere from 1,600 to 3,000 people died, but locals report the number as having been higher.
Result
The official Tiwari Commission report on the Nellie massacre is still a closely guarded secret (only three copies exist). The 600-page report was submitted to the Assam Government in 1984 and the Congress Government (headed by Hiteswar Saikia) decided not to make it public, and subsequent Governments followed suit. Assam United Democratic Front and others are making legal efforts to make Tiwari Commission report public, so that reasonable justice is delivered to victims, at least after 25 years after the incident.
Police filed 688 criminal cases, of which 378 cases were closed due to "lack of evidence" and 310 cases were slated to be charged. However, all these cases were dropped by the Government of India as a part of the 1985 Assam Accord; and, as a result, not a single person received punishment.
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi signed the Assam Accord with the leaders of the AASU to formally end the Assam Agitation in 1985.
See also
Nellie, 1983
List of massacres in India
1984 anti-Sikh riots
References
Sources
Further reading
News sources
Books
Deka, Lakhi, (2107) Tirakhir Sahid (in Assamese) Shristi Publication.
Chadha, Vivek, Low Intensity Conflicts in India. Sage Publications, 2005.
Saksena, N.S. "Police and Politicians" in Alexander, P.J. (ed.) Policing India in the New Millennium. Allied Publishers, 2002.
External links
25 years on..Nellie Still haunts..., Hemendra Narayan. (Contains an eyewitness account.)
1980s in Assam
Conflicts in 1983
Nagaon
Religiously motivated violence in India
February 1983 events in Asia
Asom Gana Parishad
1983 murders in India
Massacres of Bengalis in Assam
Massacres of Bengalis
Genocidal massacres