Nellie massacre

rdf:langString Nellie massacre

rdf:langString Assamese mobs

rdf:langString Bengal-origin Muslims

rdf:langString Nellie Massacre

rdf:langString The Nellie killings took place in central Assam during a six-hour period in the morning of 18 February 1983. The massacre claimed the lives of 2,191 people (unofficial figures run at more than 10,000) from 14 villages—Alisingha, Khulapathar, Basundhari, Bugduba Beel, Bugduba Habi, Borjola, Butuni, Dongabori, Indurmari, Mati Parbat, Muladhari, Mati Parbat no. 8, Silbheta, Borburi and Nellie—of Nagaon district. The victims were Muslim peasants of East Bengal origin. Three media personnel—Hemendra Narayan of Indian Express, Bedabrata Lahkar of Assam Tribune and Sharma of ABC—were witnesses to the massacre. The violence that took place in Nellie by natives — mostly rural peasants — was seen as a fallout of the decision to hold the controversial state elections in 1983 in the midst of the Assam Agitation, after Indira Gandhi's decision to give 4 million immigrants from Bangladesh the right to vote. It has been described as one of the worst pogroms since World War II. A documentary, What the Fields Remember, has been produced by Public Service Broadcasting Trust.