Give martyr status to the victims of 1983 Nellie massacre: AAMSU

Nearly four-decades after hundreds were massacred at Nellie in Assam's Nagaon district during the anti-foreigners movement, All Assam Minority Students' Union (AAMSU) on Tuesday demanded martyr status to the minority victims and sought a compensation of Rs. 15 lakh to each of their family members.

The students' body also questioned why report of the Tiwari Commission, which probed the massacre was not made public yet and justice not delivered to the victim families.

"The religious minorities (Muslims) were brutally killed in the name of detection of foreigners at Nellie on February 18 in 1983. Since the victims were illiterates and belonged to religious minorities, justice has not been delivered to their families yet. The victim families did not even get any financial assistance from the government," AAMSU general secretary, Abdur Rahman Biswas said in a statement on Tuesday.

The AAMSU members wore black badges and observed it as a Black Day on Tuesday. Although no official figure about number of the deceased in the attack, many said nearly 3,000 people were massacred.

The students' body demanded that the victims should be accorded martyr status like it was done in case of the 860 Assamese people, who died during the anti-foreigners movement or the Assam Agitation between 1979 and 1985. Following the agitation, Assam Accord was signed in 1985, which decided to detect and deport the "foreigners" from Assam with March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date.

Months after the BJP formed its first government in May 2016, it accorded martys status and handed over financial assistance of Rs. five lakh to the families of each of the deceased. This led the minoritiy bodies question why same thing was not done for the victims belonging to religious minorities.

The AAMSU warned to launch an agitation soon seeking justice for the victim families.