Subasri Krishnan

Vinutha Mallya

Editor

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Rashida Begum was just eight years old when the Nellie massacre took place on February 18, 1983. “They surrounded people on all sides and chased them to one side. They shot arrows; some had guns. This is how they killed people. Some had their neck cut, some had been attacked on their chest,” she remembers.That day, in a span of six hours that day, thousands of Muslims of Bengal origin were killed in Nellie (or Neli) area in central Assam. Rashida, &#39;Rumi&#39; at home, survived the massacre. But she witnessed all her four younger sisters die and her mother getting badly injured. “They attacked me with a jadi [spear], and shot me in the waist. A bullet pierced my leg” she recalls. Nellie (also spelt Neli) falls in present-day Morigaon district, which was split from 
Nagaon district in 1989. Among the worst affected villages were 
Alisinga, Basundhari Jalah, Borbori, Bhugduba Bill, Bhugduba Habi, 
Khulapathar, Matiparbat, Muladhari, Neli and Silbheta. Official reports 
put the death toll at about 2,000, but unofficial estimates suggest it 
was anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000. The killings came on the heels of ethnic violence ignited by the anti-foreigners agitation in Assam, which went on from 1979 to 1985. It was spearheaded by All Assam Students Union (AASU) and its allies. They demanded the expulsion of illegal migrants from the state and that their names be removed from the voter list.

In February 1983, the union government led by Indira Gandhi called for assembly elections in Assam despite resistance from groups like AASU and sections of the general public. The AASU called for a boycott of the polls. Yet, several Muslims of Bengal origin voted in the elections, which were held on February 14. The community had been living with the tag of bidexi (foreigner) and was being targeted with physical and psychological violence. To them, casting their vote was a way to claim the right to their Indian citizenship. However, it is believed to have been the immediate cause of the violence unleashed by groups on the community on February 18.“I participated in the anti-foreigners movement once upon a time. I was young and didn’t know much about these things. But now they have made me a foreigner since my name is not in the NRC,” Rumi says. Her name is missing from the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC), a citizenship-mapping exercise that took place between 2015 and 2019 in Assam, in which 1.9 million people find their names missing. “My mother, father, brother, sister – everyone’s name is there in it. My husband’s name and children’s names have been included too. Why is my name not there?” she says. The doubt over citizenship of Muslims of Bengal origin, and in some 
instances of Bengali Hindus as well, is decades old and can be traced to
 British colonialism and the Partition of the Indian subcontinent. Rumi 
finds herself confronted, even today, with the same question that she 
had had as an eight year old.This video is part of ‘Facing History and Ourselves’, coordinated by Subasri Krishnan. The foundation project is implemented by India Foundation for the Arts under their Archives and Museums Programme, in collaboration with People’s Archive of Rural India. This has been made possible with part support from Goethe-Institut/Max Muller Bhavan New Delhi. The project has also been supported by Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation.

In Nellie: ‘They were killing everyone’

نیلی میں: ’چاروں طرف قتل عام ہو رہا تھا‘

'அவர்கள் அனைவரையும் கொன்று கொண்டிருந்தார்கள்'

ਨੇਲੀ ਕਤਲੋਗਾਰਤ: ‘ਚੁਫ਼ੇਰੇ ਖ਼ੂਨ ਦੀਆਂ ਨਦੀਆਂ ਵਗੀਆਂ’

ନେଲ୍ଲୀ ନରସଂହାର : ‘ଚାରି ଆଡ଼େ ମୃତ୍ୟୁର ତାଣ୍ଡବ ଦେଖିବାକୁ ମିଳିଥିଲା’

നെല്ലിയിൽ: അവർ എല്ലാവരെയും കൊല്ലുകയായിരുന്നു

ನೆಲ್ಲಿ: ʼಅವರು ಎಲ್ಲರನ್ನೂ ಕೊಲ್ಲುತ್ತಿದ್ದರುʼ

नेल्ली नरसंहार: 'चारों तरफ़ क़त्ल-ए-आम मचा था'

નેલીમાં: 'ચારે તરફ કત્લ-એ-આમ થઈ રહી હતી’

‘नेल्ली मं चरों डहर कतल मचे रहय’

नेल्ली जनसंहार: जब असम बन गइल ‘एगो कत्लगाह’

নেলির স্মৃতি: ‘সবাইকে ধরে ধরে খুন করেছিল ওরা’

নেলীত: ‘সিহঁতে সকলোকে মাৰিছিল’

Marigaon

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In Nellie: ‘They were killing everyone’

On the 40th anniversary of the horrific Nellie massacre, Rashida Begum recalls the day when thousands of Muslims of Bengal origin were killed in rural central Assam

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