New Delhi: The long-suppressed report of the Commission of Enquiry on Assam Disturbances 1983, led by retired IAS officer T. P. Tewary, has been tabled in the Assam Assembly after more than four decades. The commission examined the events that led to the Nellie massacre, in which at least 2,072 Bengali-speaking Muslims were killed. The report focuses on administrative lapses, ignored intelligence and failures of police communication.
Three days before the violence, the officer in charge of Nagaon police station, Jahir Uddin Ahmed, issued a wireless alert. He warned that over one thousand armed Assamese villagers had gathered and that Muslims in Nellie feared an imminent attack. The message never reached the deputy commissioner or the superintendent of police. Senior officers later claimed they did not receive or read the alert on time. The commission concluded that the warning, if acted upon, could have prompted preventive action.
The report rejects the idea that the massacre stemmed from a communal motive. It states that clashes took place across communities and that economic tensions and land disputes shaped local conflicts. The findings emphasise that victims and attackers came from various backgrounds. The commission cites multiple incidents in other parts of Assam where Hindus were targeted, Muslims were targeted, or Assamese groups clashed among themselves.
The commission criticises the officer in charge of Jagiroad police station for denying additional security despite having access to CRPF and state police forces. It also dismisses his statements as unreliable. The report notes that long-standing anxieties over language and migration shaped tensions in the region. It places responsibility for the atmosphere of unrest on the agitation led by AASU and AAGSP but denies that the 1983 elections alone triggered the violence.
