Shocking Incident, More Than 2000 People Were Killed In Just Seven Hours

The history of this independent India has also been unique where many such incidents have happened which are not forgotten. One such heart-wrenching incident happened in the year 1983 in Assam which is known as Nelly massacre. However, very few people still know about it. In this massacre, more than 2000 people were killed in just seven hours. Although according to non-government figures, this number is more than three thousand.

This horrific massacre took place in Assam on February 18, 1983. Now why this happened, there is a long history behind it. Actually, Assam used to be a happy state earlier. Before 1826, it was ruled by the Ahom dynasty, but the British later took it under their control. In the early 19th century, the British started bringing laborers from Bengal and Bihar to work in the tea gardens, who later settled in Assam. Now since Assam is bordering Bangladesh, people from there have been coming to Assam through illegal infiltration in large numbers. Later he also got the right to vote. Against this there was an agitation in the state in the 1980s, which later became the reason for the massacre.

It was the morning of February 18, 1983. Thousands of tribals of Assam surrounded Bangladeshi people living in 14 villages of Neli area. More than two thousand people were killed within just seven hours. At that time the state police was also accused of being involved in this horrific massacre.

It is said that most of the people who died in this massacre were women and children, who could not escape with their lives. The aftermath of the massacre was horrifying. There were only dead bodies lying everywhere in the Nelly area. In many places, 200-300 dead bodies were lying together. It was indeed a very painful and heart-wrenching incident.

It is said that initially hundreds of reports were filed regarding the Nelly massacre and some were even arrested, but the perpetrators of this horrific massacre, far from being punished, were not even prosecuted. Yes, it certainly happened that the families of the people killed in this massacre were given five thousand rupees as government compensation.

Thousands of people of Basantori, Bukdoba-Habi and Borbori will never forget the date of February 18, 1983.

On the same day, 12 members of Abdul Haq's family from Basantori village were killed, including his wife, sons, daughters, cousins ​​and nieces.

Almost the entire family of Muslimuddin in the neighboring village of Bukdoba—Habi—including his wife, son and five-year-old daughter, died that morning.

About 2,600 people from Basantori, Bukdoba-Habi and nearby villages were killed within 3-4 hours that day. The death toll in Borbori village, located some distance away, was around 550.

Due to such a large number of dead, Neli of Morigaon town of Assam - witnessed the biggest massacre in India after independence. And all this happened at a time when the 'Assam Movement' was at its peak.

Caste violence again in Assam

The movement was led by the All India Assam Students' Union (AASU) - whose leaders later formed the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) after an agreement with Rajiv Gandhi. The AGP also won power in the 1985 elections. Till a few years ago, the AGP was a constituent of the NDA.

Death in every house

Abdul Haq says, “Around seven in the morning hundreds of tribals and local miscreants started setting fire to houses. They were coming from both the east and west. All the villagers gathered behind my house – in the paddy fields. Have become."

Haque was pointing to a tree to the north of his house which had become a silent witness to the massacre in Basantori village.

Abdul Subhan of Basantori said, "From a distance we saw hundreds of people getting down from the trucks, immediately covering their faces and then firing started. The tribals were carrying bows and arrows. Everyone started running here and there. Most of the people Running north-west towards the river."

The method of attack in Borbori was the same as in Basantori and Bukdoba-Habi.

Mohammad Nuruzzaman Bhuiyan, one of the oldest survivors in Borbori village, said, "Everybody was running. Some were shot, some were arrows. Nobody had time to see who had fallen."

Bhuyan's wife, sons, daughters and nephews were killed that day.

There is not a single house in these villages whose family members – mother, father, brothers, sisters – have not been killed. Those people were lucky who somehow reached the river and crossed it and hid for two or three days.

While walking on the unpaved road, Abdul Haq stopped near a woman of about 39 years, Zohra Khatoon, and introduced me to her.

The village elders had told that at the time of the massacre, Zohra Khatoon was so young that she could not run away. But by some miracle she survived for five days.

He said that his father had told him about his survival and it seems like a miracle.

'2600 Corpses'

Zohra Khatoon said, "My father told me that I was only six months old when the massacre happened. I was in my lap when my mother was running towards the paddy fields. She fell and died, my father I didn't even know about me. Five days after the massacre, I met a policeman. I was clinging to my mother's dead body. Then I was handed over to my father - who was living in a relief camp."

Abdul Subhan of Basantori says, "The paramilitary forces were patrolling the main highway a few kilometers away. They probably heard continuous gunshots and saw some smoke rising. But local policemen sent them elsewhere. Later some women showed courage and stopped the patrolling vehicles and informed the paramilitary forces about here. Around 11 o'clock the paramilitary forces arrived and started firing on the miscreants, but by then they had started running away.

At that time there was only a short time left for the election and a call for boycott was being given. But the Bengali speaking Muslims of these villages had decided to vote. Two days before the massacre, the village elders were called by the police and a peace committee was formed. Police and paramilitary forces had started patrolling to ensure security.

According to a person who survived the massacre, "But the police force disappeared for a few hours that day."

By the time Abdul Subhan of Basantori and Zahidur Rahman of Borbori returned with courage, everything was looted. Their houses had been demolished and hundreds of bodies were buried in a hurry by the security forces.

Nurul Amin took me to a field outside Basantori and said, "All 2,600 bodies were lying there."

Subhan said, "Hands and feet were seen coming out of the mass grave. Later we arranged for the burial in the mass grave in a simple manner."

'Waiting for justice'

Even after 39 years of the massacre, no memorial has been erected in the memory of those killed in any village.

Mohammad Shafiq-Ullah of Borbori says regretfully, "Look at that dilapidated building - once there used to be a health center. But since last year there is not a single doctor. We have to take patients for 8 to 10 kms. There is only one tubewell for 1800 people of the village. The roads are unpaved."

"A few days after the massacre, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and President Giani Zail Singh, who came in a helicopter, had promised all help. Yet nothing happened in three decades," he said.

"We got Rs 5,000 for each corpse and corrugated sheets of tin. That's it," says Muslimuddin of Basantori.

Shafiq-Ullah explains, "And the youth - at least one from every family - had to move to Kerala in search of jobs. Because they have moved out, that is the only reason we are able to maintain our families."

And all those youths have come back from Kerala to Assam - just to vote in this election.

"We haven't got justice yet," says Abdul Subhan.