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Assam government to table unofficial Mehta Commission report in Assembly

GUWAHATI: The report of a non-government commission, which probed the incidents related to the 1983 Assam election violence, will be tabled in the State Assembly during its winter session beginning on Tuesday. The three-member unofficial judicial commission, headed by Justice (Retd) T U Mehta, was formed by Mukti Jujaru Sanmilan and those involved in the six-year-long Assam agitation or anti-foreigners agitation. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said it would be the first time that a report of a commission, formed by non-government agencies, would be tabled in the State Assembly. He said All Assam Students Union (AASU) wanted the report to be made public in the interest of the people.We have also decided to place copies of the Tewary Commission report, Sarma said. The Tribhubhan Prasad Tewari Commission had probed the Nellie Massacre of 1983 during the Assam Agitation. An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 Muslims, mostly women and children, had lost their lives in the massacre one of the darkest chapters of Assams history. The Assam Agitation, spearheaded by the AASU, culminated with the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985. A major demand of the agitators was that the illegal immigrants should be detected and deported. However, despite the signing of the accord, the problem remains unresolved. According to Sarma, although the Tewary Commission report was tabled in the House in 1987 when the Asom Gana Parishad was in power, only one copy was sent to the Speaker. We will provide copies to all MLAs on Tuesday, he said. With barely a few months left for Assam to go to elections, some Opposition parties view the governments move as politically motivated. However, Sarma termed it as an academic exercise. The copies will be made public to prevent this historic document from being lost to time, he said. Meanwhile, the Cabinet approved placing the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Assam Amendment) Bill, 2025, before the Assembly, thus paving the way for permitting the traditional buffalo fight during Magh Bihu celebrations, similar to Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu. Twenty-seven Bills, approved by the State Cabinet, will be tabled during the five-day session, the chief minister said.