Assam: Mehta panel blamed it on security vacuum due to polls

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The TU Mehta Enquiry Commission observed that the holding of general elections in 1983 in Assam, defying the stringent opposition by the people of the state, was one of the main reasons behind the massacre in the state. It continues to remain a big question as to what positive outcome came after holding elections in Assam when the situation was volatile in the state. The deployment of almost the entire police force on poll duty created a security vacuum on the ground to control the law-and-order situation. The result is that hundreds of people had to be victims of ruthless violence. 

The report said that the Congress came to power in an election that had only 16.5 per cent of votes polled due to a poll boycott by the general mass. The Congress was bent on coming to power by riding on the poll boycott by the general mass, the report said. Despite assurances to revise the voter list to the agitation leaders, the then Central Government announced the general election in Assam all of a sudden and started atrocities on the general masses that boycotted the poll, the report added.

The logic behind holding elections in Assam in 1983 was a constitutional obligation that does not allow President’s Rule in a state beyond one year. Justice (Retd.) Mehta questioned, “Does the Constitution compel us to hold elections through the killing of thousands of people?”

Regarding the Nellie incident, the report said two or three days before the incident, around 86 people informed the Jagiroad Police Station that some violence was likely in the Nellie area. They also sought the deployment of more security forces, but to no avail. A few days before the Nellie incidents, the inciting speeches by some political leaders in Nagaon and Darrang districts led to the attacks on several Lalung and Assamese villages. The Jagiroad police sought more forces, but the higher-ups could not provide additional forces, as most of the security personnel had been on poll duty, the report added.  

In its conclusion, the report said the incident that had occurred in the state would remain indelible in people’s minds for the coming 30 years. Assam was literally a police state at that time, and the police and security personnel resorted to atrocities on the common people in the name of bringing law and order under control. Citing statements of victims of the violence, the report pointed out, “It is shameful that such incidents happened under a democratic and civilized government’.

Also Read: Assam Cabinet Tables 1983 Tewari & Mehta Commission Reports