Communal conflict | Fear and loathing
As the communal climate warmed dramatically in the 1980s, caste was added to the mix in the controversy over the mass conversion of Tamil Dalits to Islam. In Assam, a student-led 'anti-outsider' agitation combined with tribal sentiments to spark a shocking massacre of Bengali Muslims
There were several flashpoints in the tumultuous decade that was the 1980s. On February 19, 1981, around 180 families (or 1,100 people as per the government estimate) from the Pallar community, a scheduled caste, converted from Hinduism to Islam at a mass conversion ceremony in Tamil Nadu’s Meenakshipuram village. Considered untouchables, they worked primarily as low-income agricultural labourers. The conversions sent shockwaves across the country. It was alleged that they were forced and foreign funded. Several politicians visited the village, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Eventually, most of the converts returned to Hinduism, citing unfulfilled promises. The conversions had a ripple effect—the BJP raised the issue in Parliament in 1984, possibly adding momentum to the Ayodhya movement.
There were several flashpoints in the tumultuous decade that was the 1980s. On February 19, 1981, around 180 families (or 1,100 people as per the government estimate) from the Pallar community, a scheduled caste, converted from Hinduism to Islam at a mass conversion ceremony in Tamil Nadu’s Meenakshipuram village. Considered untouchables, they worked primarily as low-income agricultural labourers. The conversions sent shockwaves across the country. It was alleged that they were forced and foreign funded. Several politicians visited the village, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Eventually, most of the converts returned to Hinduism, citing unfulfilled promises. The conversions had a ripple effect—the BJP raised the issue in Parliament in 1984, possibly adding momentum to the Ayodhya movement.
Rather more grim was the Nellie Massacre which took place in Assam on February 18, 1983, just 45 km from the state capital. In a span of seven hours, thousands of Bengali Muslims were slaughtered across 14 villages of Nagaon district. The violence was perpetrated by rural peasants, whose contention was that the Muslims were Bangladeshi immigrants and illegal settlers. Assam was already on the boil after voting rights were given to four million Bengali Muslims, and anti-outsider sentiment was running high. The decision to hold an assembly election—chief election commissioner Ram Krishna Trivedi cited constitutional exigency—in a charged political environment proved to be fateful. Most of the dead were women, children and the elderly—those who couldn’t get away quickly enough.