Congress MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed suspended from Party over 1983 Assam agitation remarks

After being arrested for "provocative" remarks on 1983 agitation, the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on Monday suspended MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed. According to the party, Congress' Assam Chief Bhupen Borah cited 'repeated violation of party discipline' as a reason behind the suspension. Ahmed was earlier heard saying the alleged encroachers in the Sipajhar area of Darrang district "had killed" eight people in 1983 during the six-year-long Assam agitation.

Assam Congress MLA, arrested for remark on 1983 agitation suspended from the party. 

What had Congress MLA said? 

According to a PTI report, Ahmed had allegedly said that the eight people who died in the 1983 agitation were "not martyrs, but killers", as they were involved in slaughtering people from the minority community of the Sipajhar area where Gorukhuti is located. He had termed "the attack" on the eight people as an act of "self defence" by the Muslim population of that area. 

The Congress leadership in Assam had also issued a notice to Ahmed asserting, "as a lawmaker, your communally provocative comments in media, gnawing at old wounds of the past incidents of Assam Agitation when people of Assam across communities had suffered, is totally insensitive and uncalled for." The state's ruling alliance partner, Asom Gana Parishad, born out of the Assam agitation, had organised protests at various places, including Dibrugarh, Barpeta, Mangaldoi, Dhemaji, Tezpur, Biswanath, Nalbari, Bongaigaon, Majuli and Morigaon, and burnt effigies of the Congress MLA.

1983 massacre in Assam

The six-year-long Assam Agitation was driven by the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) in 1979, demanding the identification and deportation of illegal immigrants. The agitation was marked by episodes of violence, the most prominent being the Nellie massacre of 1983, which according to unofficial figures, left over 3,000 people (mostly Bengali Muslims) dead.

On 18 February 1983, more than 2,000 Bengali-speaking Muslims were massacred in Nellie and its 13 surrounding villages in Assam. The attack lasted 6 hours—from 9 am-3 pm. The attackers hacked in cold blood, using machetes and other weapons. Eighty per cent of those who died were women, children and the elderly. Bengali-speaking Muslims in villages decided to go ahead and vote on 14 February 1983. This was the trigger for the Nellie massacre.

Since 1980, the anti-foreigner movement began in Assam against migrants being included in the voter's list. Later, in 1982 the Assembly was dissolved and elections were held in February 1983. Few days after casting their votes, thousands of Assam agitation leaders were killed and villages dominated by Bengali Muslims who had migrated from Bangladesh were killed.