Memories of the Massacre: Violence and Collective Identity in the Narratives on the Nellie Incident 1

This article is the first intensive academic research on the massacre of February 1983 near Nellie, a rural area in Assam, India. This incident saw the Tiwas, an ethnic group based on the Assam plains, attack the Bengali Muslims, who were immigrants, with about 1,600 people being killed. The context of the massacre was a movement by the dominant community against foreigners, especially East Pakistani and Bangladeshi immigrants, from 1979 to 1985. The framework of discussion is that nations construct their identities, at least to some extent, from violent episodes that see the subject attacked by the 'other'. The main part of the research method was on-the-spot interviewing, not to ascertain factual material but to find out the freely expressed views of people on memories and interpretations of the massacre, and specifically what had caused it. The paper argues that, in Assamese society the dominant narrative on the massacre was that of the Assamese intellectuals, while those of the minority groups were subordinate. The minority groups decided whether to establish their own historical identities largely on the basis of their choice whether to seek for autonomy or to assimilate with the dominant community.