Nellie massacre
Nellie Massacre | |
---|---|
Location | Assam, India |
Coordinates | 26°06′41″N 92°19′02″E / 26.111483°N 92.317253°E |
Date | 18 February 1983 |
Target | Immigrant Bengal-origin Muslims[1][2] |
Attack type | Deportation, mass murder |
Deaths | 2,191+ , 10,000+ (unofficial) |
Perpetrator | A mob of a few hundred |
The Nellie massacre took place in central Assam during a six-hour period on the morning of 18 February 1983.[6][7] The massacre claimed the lives of 1,600–2,000 people[8] 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.[9][10] The victims were Muslim of Bengali origin.[11][7][12] Three media personnel—Hemendra Narayan of The Indian Express, Bedabrata Lahkar of The Assam Tribune and Sharma of ABC—were witnesses to the massacre.[13]
The violence that took place in Nellie by natives—mostly rural peasants—was seen as a fallout of the decision to hold the controversial
Context
In 1978,
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 composed exclusively of Boro tribals opposed to Assamese hegemony, supported the elections, and subsequent inter-ethnic violence unfolded.[21]
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.
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.[9]
Inciting incident
It was found in the interviews conducted after the massacre that the immigrant Bengali Muslims had been engaged in a number of kidnappings of tribal girls, forcefully cultivating off in Tiwa lands and also of stealing cows. On 13th February, the immigrant Bengali muslims had also attacked a Bihari village in that area.[22]
The immediate cause of the massacre was Bengali immigrants kidnapping five
Vajpayee's Controversial Utterance
In a speech, Atal Bihari Vajpayee expressed concerns about the government's inaction towards foreigners: "Foreigners have arrived, and the government remains inactive. Imagine if they had entered Punjab – people would have dealt with them harshly and would chopped them into pieces and thrown them away" Following the speech, violence erupted in Nellie. Vajpayee, returning to New Delhi from Assam, strongly condemned the Nellie massacre. This quote attributed to Vajpayee was presented by former CPI-M MP Indrajit Gupta during a trust vote debate in May 1996, and it went unchallenged in the Lok Sabha.[24][25]
Massacre
This section needs additional citations for verification. (August 2023) |
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
The massacre ended with the arrival of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the evening. Many survivors recall that the local police tried convincing the CRPF battalion that there was no violence in the area; the smoke emitted was due to burning of agricultural waste rather than houses. The survivors also recalled that the local police diverted the battalion to patrol the national highway suggesting that no road lead to the area from where the smoke rose. The battalion eventually located the area when a woman from the village stopped the CRPF trucks and led them to the village.[27]
Result
The official Tiwari Commission report on the Nellie massacre is still a closely guarded secret (only three copies exist).
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.[30]
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi signed the Assam Accord with the leaders of the AASU to formally end the Assam Agitation in 1985.[20]
Movies
A documentary, What the Fields Remember, has been produced by Public Service Broadcasting Trust.[31]
See also
References
- ^ Kimura 2013, p. 1.
- ^ "There is a sharp difference between Bengal-origin Muslim in Assam and Bengali Muslim. Often I notice people from outside Assam confusing the two, including the national media in articles published outside the state. We identify ourselves as Bengal-origin Assamese Muslims. We are not Bengali. We are not Bengali Muslims. The Muslims in Assam’s Barak Valley often identify themselves as Bengali Muslims, not us. But we have not been able to make people from the outside see the difference." (Pisharoty 2019)
- ISBN 978-1-61219-858-3.
- ^ "Nellie Massacre: 40 Years Later, a Cautionary Tale for Today's India".
The physical violence flowed directly from the emotive violence generated by the agitation, which sought the expulsion of "illegal Bengalis/Bangladeshis" from Assam.
- ^ "Nellie Massacre: 40 Years Later, a Cautionary Tale for Today's India".
The physical violence flowed directly from the emotive violence generated by the agitation, which sought the expulsion of "illegal Bengalis/Bangladeshis" from Assam.
- ^ "...the majority of the participants were rural peasants belonging to mainstream communities, or from the lower strata of the caste system categorized as Scheduled Castes or Other Backward Classes." (Kimura 2013, p. 5)
- ^ a b Kokrajhar; Dhubri (24 August 2012). "Killing for a homeland". The Economist Banyan blog. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012.
- ^ "On February 18, 1983 about 3000 Muslims of East Bengal origin were killed in several villages around Nellie." (Kimura 2013:68)
- ^ a b c d e f "83 polls were a mistake: KPS Gill". Assam Tribune. 18 February 2008. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ Rehman, Teresa (30 September 2006), "Nellie Revisited: The Horror's Nagging Shadow", Tehelka, archived from the original on 11 November 2006, retrieved 19 February 2008
- ISBN 978-0-8223-5318-8: "In this incident, the local people, including the Assamese and tribes... attacked the Muslim immigrants from East Bengal."
- ^ Mander, Harsh (14 December 2008). "Nellie : India's forgotten massacre". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 16 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2012.: "A crowd quickly gathered: the older men with checked lungis and beards could easily be distinguished as people of East Bengali Muslim origin."
- ^ Main Uddin. "Genesis of Nellie massacre and Assam agitation". Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "The purpose of this study is to assess the verdict, if any, of Assam's controversial elections which were held in February 1983, under conditions of widespread violence and obviously incompetent official arrangements of electoral facilities." (Dasgupta & Guha 1985:843)
- ^ Goel, Rekha. "25 years on...Nellie still haunts". The Statesman. Retrieved 8 December 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ISBN 978-8190583572.
- ^ "Nellie Massacre: 40 Years Later, a Cautionary Tale for Today's India". The Wire. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ Gupta, Kanchan (2019), "Beyond the poll rhetoric of BJP's contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill", Orf, Observer Research Foundation "A close scrutiny of the electoral rolls indicated that there had been mass inclusion of names of illegal immigrants, prompting AASU to demand that the by-election be called off..."
- ^ Main Uddin. "Genesis of Nellie massacre and Assam agitation". Retrieved 5 April 2016.: "Significantly the Election Commission reviewed the list and found 68.28 percent of the allegations to be true. After Election Commission's assessment it came to light that 45 thousand illegal foreigners are listed in the voter's list."
- ^ a b "Tripartite talks to review the implementation of the Assam Accord held in New Delhi on 31.05.2000". SATP. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- JSTOR 1973053.
- ISBN 9789381411667.
- ISBN 978-0706925371.
- ^ "The other side of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 3 instances".
- ^ "Atal Bihari Vajpayee was no liberal. But he could soften or harden his Hindutva to suit his politics". 18 August 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-61219-858-3.
- ISSN 0085-6401.
- ^ Rehman, Teresa. "An Untold Shame". Tehelka Magazine. Archived from the original on 11 November 2006. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
- ^ Staff Reporter (19 February 2008). "Flashback to Nellie Horror:AUDF to move court for probe report". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
- ^ Mander, Harsh (14 December 2008). "Nellie : India's forgotten massacre". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 16 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ Rangan, Baradwaj (12 September 2015). "They remember so we don't forget". The Hindu.
Sources
- Dasgupta, Keya; Guha, Amalendu (1985). "1983 Assembly Poll in Assam: An Analysis of Its Background and Implications". Economic and Political Weekly. 20 (19): 843–853. JSTOR 4374393.
- Kimura, Makiko (2013). The Nellie Massacre of 1983: Agency of Rioters. Sage Publications India. ISBN 9788132111665.
- Pisharoty, Sangeeta Barooah (2019). "There is a Conspiracy to Show Bengal-Origin Muslims as Anti-Assamese: Hafiz Ahmed". The Wire (Interview). Retrieved 9 April 2021.
Further reading
News sources
- Lahkar, Bedabrata (18 February 2008), "Recounting a Nightmare", The Assam Tribune, retrieved 24 March 2008
- Gokhale, Nitin (2 July 2005), "The Simple Safety of Numbers", Tehelka, archived from the original on 1 December 2006, retrieved 24 March 2008
- Gokhale, Nitin (16 July 2005), "Vote banks pay dividends", Tehelka, archived from the original on 3 September 2008, retrieved 19 February 2008
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.)