Ghost of 1983 Assam massacre returns ahead of polls as Himanta Sarma tables two key reports in Assembly

Himanta Biswa Sarma says the findings of the Tewary Commission 'remain relevant today' for addressing the deeper structural causes of migration in Assam.

Ahead of the 2026 Assembly election, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma-led state government on Tuesday released the 41-year-old Tewary Commission report on the 1983 disturbances, including the Nellie massacre.

Sarma also tabled the report of the Justice (retd) TU Mehta Commission, which examined the widespread violence during the 1983 Assembly elections, a period marked by the peak of the anti-influx agitation from 1979 to 1985.

The two contrasting reports have revived the memories of bloodshed in Assam during the peak of the anti-immigrant Assam Agitation more than four decades ago.

Both hard and digital copies of the report are now accessible to all MLAs during the current session.

Tewary Commission report

The Tewary Commission report was written by Tribhuvan Prasad Tewary, a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.

The panel was constituted by the Assam government in 1983 to investigate the violence that erupted during the Assam Agitation, particularly the Nellie massacre.

On February 18, 1983, India saw one of its most horrifying episodes of communal violence in Nellie, Assam when nearly 3,000 people were allegedly killed in a period of six hours. The violence came in the backdrop of the anti-foreigner’s movement in Assam that began in 1979. It aimed at the expulsion of “illegal Bangladeshi immigrants” from the state.

The report remained classified for decades. It addressed causes such as electoral contestation, immigration and demographic change, tribal tensions and the timing of elections in a sensitive atmosphere.

The immediate trigger to this violence is believed to be the decision to hold the state elections in 1983 despite widespread opposition from the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP, the umbrella body).

What did the Mehta Commission report say?

The Justice (retd) TU Mehta Commission was formed by Mukti Jujaru Sanmilan spearheading the Assam Agitation from 1979-85. TU Mehta was a retired Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

The Assam movement or Assam agitation started in 1979 and went on till the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985.

According to this report, migrant Muslims started attacking nearby villages inhabited by the Lalung tribe and other Assamese people from February 13. The report noted that in some incidents, migrant Muslims solely attacked Assamese and tribal villagers and killed them, while in certain cases, casualties were from both sides.

Key difference between two reports

The two reports contradict each other on pinning the assembly elections of 1983 as the trigger point of the large-scale violence, including the Nellie massacre.

“Aasu and AAGSP are primarily responsible. It also said the decision to hold elections in 1983 should not be blamed for the violence. It said the agitation was aggravated by the support of some government officials,” the Tewary Commission report stated.

On the other hand, the Mehta Commission blamed the earlier attacks by migrant Muslims on Assamese people as a cause for the Nellie massacre. According to the panel, the Assamese Hindus and Muslims were primarily targeted by the administration and Assam was turned into a “police state”.

Sarma said that the findings of the Tewary Commission “remain relevant today” for addressing the deeper structural causes of migration in Assam.