7 months ago
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Two days aft the Assam authorities announced plans to marque nationalist the Tewary Commission Report connected the Nellie massacre of 1983, a cross-section of radical connected Saturday (October 25, 2025) voiced apprehension that the determination could jeopardise bid among communities.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had connected Thursday told reporters that the State Cabinet decided to array the Tewary Commission Report successful the adjacent Assembly league successful November.
Also read:That spot of shame
More than 2,000 radical were killed successful the Nellie incident, which occurred connected February 18, 1983, during the highest of the anti-foreigners Assam Agitation. The victims were migrant Muslims, mostly women and children.
"I don’t recognize wherefore specified an aged study volition beryllium made nationalist aft astir 43 years of the incident. When the wounds person already healed, wherefore scratch those now? Is it being done to instigate radical up of the Assembly elections?" Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia told PTI.
Also read:Assam’s Nellie Muslims accidental their ballot was to enactment backmost successful India
He said erstwhile radical are surviving successful harmony successful the greater Nellie area, tabling of the study whitethorn destabilise the prevailing bid and spot among communities.
"It seems the CM is frustrated with radical of each castes and religions uniting aft Zubeen Garg's death. People from each communities are demanding justness for him and showing allegiance to Garg's ideology, which was against communalism," Mr. Saikia said.
Nellie (in Morigaon) is simply a clump of astir 16 villages. On February 18, 1983, Assamese Hindus and indigenous tribal neighbours attacked the villages and killed implicit 2,100 radical successful a span of astir six hours.
The attacked residents chiefly belonged to the Bengali-speaking Muslim assemblage whose predecessors had migrated from erstwhile East Bengal from arsenic aboriginal arsenic the 1930s.
On July 14, 1983, the Assam authorities had acceptable up a committee nether the enactment of T P Tewary.
The 551-page study was submitted to the erstwhile Hiteswar Saikia authorities successful May 1984, but ne'er tabled oregon made public.
Parthajit Baruah, who made a full-length diagnostic movie connected the massacre – ‘The Nellie Story’ – opined that bringing retired the study astatine a clip erstwhile the full authorities is grieving Garg's decease is "surprising and disappointing".
"The clip is not conducive now. The radical are emotionally broken. We expect the authorities to unearth the information down Garg’s decease successful the archetypal place," helium said.
Mr. Baruah besides said tabling and discussing the Tewary study is apt to divert the full attraction from Garg's case.
"There is different aspect. Against the fashionable conception of sidesplitting lone Bengali Muslims successful the massacre, galore tribal locals besides died successful the incidental successful Raha area. I person shown that space successful my film, which amazingly was not discussed successful society," helium said.
As per a probe insubstantial 'Denying the Animosity: Understanding Narratives of Harmony from the Nellie Massacre, 1983' by Jabeen Yasmeen of IIT-Bombay, the carnage was 1 of the worst mass-killings successful post-Independent India.
"It is debatable whether the Nellie massacre should beryllium referred to arsenic a massacre and not a genocide... it should alternatively beryllium named a genocide owed to the assailants' intent to hitch retired a definite community," she said.
Handique Girls' College Assistant Professor (Political Science), Pallavi Deka, told PTI that the Nellie massacre is an lawsuit successful past that is inactive applicable successful Assam politics.
"This determination is an offshoot of that relevance. Seeing the crook of events aft Garg’s decease and the determination to marque the study nationalist needs to beryllium analysed together," she said.
Ms. Deka said the existent authorities "trying to reap the maximum retired of it is obvious", fixed the timing of the planned tabling of the report.
Defending the decision, Mr. Sarma had said the papers was not tabled truthful acold due to the fact that the transcript with the Assam authorities did not person the signature of the chairman.
"We didn’t cognize whether the transcript we person is actual. So, we interviewed the officials and clerks of that play who were progressive successful the report. The papers was besides sent to forensics for verification. When it was authenticated, we decided to marque it nationalist arsenic radical person the close to cognize what had happened and whose responsibility it was," helium said.
Apparently supporting the government, All Assam Students' Union (AASU) president Utpal Sarma told PTI that it was incorrect to support specified an important papers nether wraps for specified a agelong period.
"It was a committee formed by the government. So, wherefore successive governments didn't array it is simply a large question. We volition besides not let the request for justness to Garg to get diverted due to the fact that of this report," helium asserted.
Following the Nellie massacre, a full of 688 cases were filed. The constabulary submitted chargesheets for 310 cases. When the Assam Accord was signed successful 1985, the perpetrators were fixed full impunity – a large facet that indicated denial of the gruesome incident.
Ms. Yasmeen, successful her paper, wrote, "Despite prevailing tensions and warnings from elder constabulary officials, (Assembly) elections were held connected February 14 and 17, 1983. The leaders of the Assam Movement called radical to boycott the elections." "While astir of Assamese nine abstained from voting, a conception of the Bengali-speaking Muslim number voted, which enraged the Assam Movement leaders. The information by a conception of the Bengali-speaking Muslim number is believed to person led to the massacre," she added.
The probe insubstantial besides cited assorted scholars and claimed the section Lalung (Tiwa) people and different Scheduled Caste Hindus successful and astir Nellie were provoked to judge that the onshore abandoned by the Bengali-speaking Muslims would go theirs aft the massacre.
