Guwahati, Oct 27: A section of people has voiced concern after the Assam government announced plans to make public the Tiwari Commission Report on the Nellie massacre of 1983.
Speaking to reporters, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the Cabinet had decided to table the Tiwari Commission Report in the next Assembly session in November. During the Assam Agitation (1979–1985) against infiltration, over 2,100 people—mostly Muslims—were killed in a single night in the infamous Nellie massacre of 1983.
Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia said, “I don’t understand why such an old report is being made public after almost 43 years of the incident. When the wounds have already healed, why scratch them now? Is it being done to instigate people ahead of the Assembly elections?”
He added that when people in the greater Nellie area are living in harmony, tabling the report could destabilize the prevailing peace and trust among communities.
“It seems the CM is frustrated with people of all castes and religions uniting after Zubeen Garg’s death. People from all communities are demanding justice for him and showing allegiance to Garg’s ideology, which was against communalism,” Saikia said.
On February 18, 1983, Assamese Hindus and indigenous tribal neighbours attacked villages and killed over 2,100 people in a span of about six hours.
The victims primarily belonged to the Bengali-speaking Muslim community, whose predecessors had migrated from the former East Bengal as early as the 1930s. On July 14, 1983, the Assam government set up a commission under the leadership of T.P. Tiwari.
The 551-page report was submitted to the erstwhile Hiteswar Saikia government in May 1984 but was never tabled or made public.
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