Nellie massacre: Picking at scabs after four decades

Guwahati: Until 1980s, Nellie was like any other nondescript village along the NH-37 in central Assam's Morigaon district. However, for the last four decades, any mention of this rural hamlet in public discourse has drawn much attention in the Northeastern state.

On February 18, 1983, hundreds of Bengali-speaking Muslims in Nellie and nearby villages were massacred and their houses set on fire allegedly by tribal villagers. In barely six hours, as many as 1,892 people were massacred (official figure) and their bodies buried. Unofficially, many claimed that the death toll had crossed 3,000. The bloodbath still haunts Assam and is considered the worst massacre independent India has witnessed till date.

The bloody episode unravelled during the peak of the Assam Agitation, or the anti-foreigners movement, more than 40 years ago. 

The Assam Agitation ended with the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985, and most cases related to the Agitation, including the Nellie massacre, were closed subsequently. Despite this legal closure, Nellie continues to be a haunted name. The topic is so touchy that the Assam government even barred Japanese researcher Makiko Kimura from delivering a lecture in the state on her book, The Nellie Massacre of 1983: Agency of Rioters, published in 2013.

According to one version, the residents of Nellie and nearby villages were attacked as they had defied the "boycott call" issued by the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and others to the Assembly elections amid the Agitation in 1983. Another version says Nellie residents were attacked as they were suspected to be behind the killing of a prominent leader of the Agitation in Darang district, situated just on the other bank of the Brahmaputra. However, there is no proper understanding even today about why the Nellie horror could not be prevented despite intelligence inputs.  

The inquiry report of the Justice Tribhuvan Prasad Tewari Commission, constituted by the then Congress government, too has not been made public yet. The parties that came to power in the state in subsequent years, be it the Asom Gana Parishad, Congress or the BJP, did not reveal the contents citing sensitivity of the matter. 

However, after over 42 years since the massacre, the present BJP-led government, which is eyeing a hat-trick term in next year's polls, has surprised many when it decided on October 23 to table the Tewari Commission report in the Assembly in November. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the decision was taken to allow the people know about Nellie massacre and the circumstances leading to it. 

However, not everyone is convinced by this rationale.

Abdul Mutallek, a  resident of Nellie, says he is clueless about the government's intention behind making the report public after 42 years. 

"Why is the government trying to scratch the old wounds?" Mutallek asked while talking to DH over the phone. The 63-year-old man lost his two sisters, Rupia and Apia, aged 9 and 7 then, in the massacre. "We were caught unawares. I just ran away to save myself. But mostly the women and the children died as they could not flee. We can never forget the trauma," he said, adding: "We have been waiting for justice but none came to our rescue. Now, we hope that justice will be delivered."

Mutallek rejected the allegation that those killed were "foreigners". "Most here got their names enrolled in the NRC," he said.

The Japanese researcher Kimura in her book says the survivors had gone back to their villages and have been living side-by-side with the attackers as the justice continued to elude them. 

The government's decision to reveal the report months ahead of the Assembly elections (March-April) has forced many to suspect that the BJP's aim is to reap political mileage. They believe that the report might be used to add to existing polarisation, which the saffron party has fuelled by carrying out eviction drives targeting the Bengali Muslims across Assam.

"The BJP may try to boost its Hindu-Muslim narrative as the inquiry commission reportedly questioned the Congress government's role," said Manoj Kumar Nath, a journalist in Guwahati, who wrote Assam Agitation. The book, published in 2015, talks about the background of the Assam Agitation and the Nellie massacre.

The BJP calls the Bengali-speaking Muslims "illegal migrants" and a threat to the identity of indigenous Assamese. The party banked on the Hindu-Muslim narrative and projected itself as a saviour of the indigenous people in the run-up to elections in 2016 and 2021. The party is adopting the same tactics ahead of the next Assembly elections. 

"It is always welcome to correct the misreading narratives about the Nellie massacre which has been portrayed in a one-sided manner to target the migrants. But as the people of Assam know, the facts are otherwise," said Upamanyu Hazarika, a lawyer in the Supreme Court, who leads Pravajan Birodhi Manch.

"This government is interested only in giving out palliatives to the indigenous people in the run-up to the elections. Because, despite being in power at the Centre for the past 12 years and in Assam for 10 years, the BJP has taken no steps either to identify the Bangladeshis and send them back or initiate protective mechanisms like land reservations for the indigenous people."

Highlights - Vexed issue
On February 18, 1983, over 1,800 Bengali-speaking Muslims (official figure) were killed within six hours
Took place amid the Assam Movement or the anti-foreigners movement (1979-1985)
Assam Agitation ended with the signing of the Assam Accord that promised to detect and deport the post-1971 migrants to Bangladesh
The AASU leaders, who spearheaded the Assam Agitation, formed AGP and came to power twice (1985 and 1996)
TP Tewari Commission inquiry report, which was submitted in 1984, has not been made public yet citing sensitivity 
The NRC exercise with March 24, 1971 as cut-off was carried out in Assam between 2013 and 2018 but the updated list was rejected by the BJP government and local organisations. 
The foreigner issue takes centre stage before elections