Is Nationalism Splitting Communities in Assam?
In Assam’s Morigaon district, Jamal Uddin, a madrasa teacher from Borbori, still carries the trauma of the 1983 Nellie massacre over alleged illegal immigrants. He lost his mother, brother and sister, who were among an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people, mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims, who were killed in a matter of hours. The issue of illegal immigration from Bangladesh remains deeply contentious in the state’s politics and society. Successive governments have carried out actions in the name of anti-terror measures, targeting the minority Muslim community and fuelling widespread suspicion against it.
In Assam, Bengali-speaking Muslims face a unique and persistent form of marginalisation. They are often vilified through a dual lens—portrayed by Assamese nationalists as “Bangladeshi infiltrators” who threaten indigenous identity, and by Hindu nationalists as “Muslim outsiders” in a country where Hindu nationalist narratives increasingly shape political discourse.
State-led policies such as the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) have reinforced the divides. While the NRC aimed to identify undocumented immigrants in Assam, its implementation led to the exclusion of nearly 1.9 million people in 2019, a significant number of whom were Bengali Muslims. The CAA, passed in December 2019, provides a pathway to Indian citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from neighbouring countries, further deepening fears of religious discrimination among Muslim communities.
The state’s approach to madrasas has further strained relations. On Aug. 31, 2022, the Assam government demolished the Markazul Ma-Arif Quariayana Madrasa in Kabaitari, Bongaigaon district. This followed the arrest of an assistant teacher, Mufti Hafizur Rahman, who was accused of having links with banned terror organisations including Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT).
In recent years, the state has also witnessed mob lynchings targeting members of the Muslim community, triggered by unverified rumours—such as allegations of cow slaughter, cattle theft, or being “illegal immigrants.”
The legacy of the Nellie massacre remains a painful reminder of what unchecked majoritarianism and institutional indifference can lead to. The lack of justice for past atrocities, coupled with current policies that appear to target a specific group, signals a worrying erosion of democratic safeguards in the state.
As nationalism is increasingly used to define who belongs and who does not, the burden is disproportionately borne by communities like Bengali-speaking Muslims. The consequences are visible: alienation, fear and a growing mistrust in the institutions meant to protect all citizens.
