Veteran Journalist T. N. Ninan Recalls When Indira Gandhi Removed India Today Magazine Copies on the 1983 Nellie Massacre Ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Delhi

Key Points:

The horrifying Nellie Massacre of 1983 is still remembered as one of the most dreadful massacres India has witnessed since independence. Communal tensions between the Hindu and Muslim communities escalated in the Nagaon–Morigaon belt of Assam, leading to the killing of thousands. Japanese scholar Makiko Kimura described the incident as the “most gruesome tragedy since Partition.”

Decades later, the nightmare of Nellie was recalled during the India Today Conclave 2026 held in New Delhi. At the prestigious conclave, several veteran editors came together to discuss story ideas that could possibly make the cover.

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Decades of newsroom experience filled the room at the India Today Conclave 2026.

The panel included India Today Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie, Raj Chengappa, Prabhu Chawla, T. N. Ninan, Swapan Dasgupta, Shekhar Gupta, and Kaveree Bamzai. While discussing headlines and the ongoing issues that India is currently facing, the panel reminisced about lesser-known events that allegedly took place following the Nellie Massacre.

Former editor of Business Standard and The Economic Times, T. N. Ninan listed key issues. He said, “Oil prices are going up, gas is not available, restaurants are shutting down, and the stock market is down 10%. Where is this all leading?” Ninan further demanded answers to such questions and added, “How much further will the stock market fall?”

India Today anchor Rajdeep Sardesai countered, “The government will say you are spreading panic.”

Ninan instantly recalled an incident from the 1980s and described it as a time when journalists did not care about what politicians thought. He spoke about the March edition of India Today magazine titled “Assam: A State Ravaged.” The cover featured the image of dead bodies from the Nellie Massacre.

At the time, India Today covered the massacre in detail, which allegedly prompted attempts by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to conceal it from international visitors. India was hosting the 7th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in New Delhi. Ninan stated that copies of the magazine were removed from newsstands across the national capital.

The magazines were picked up in order to conceal the issue from international leaders visiting India. Ninan added, “The Prime Minister might attack the magazine, but the story still ran.” Following the Assam cover story, Gandhi criticised India Today and called the magazine “anti-national” at a session of the Indian National Congress in Kolkata.

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What was the Nellie Massacre 1983?

On February 13, 1983, India witnessed one of its most brutal incidents of communal violence in Nellie, near the villages of Nagaon district in Assam. The massacre occurred during the Assam Movement, also known as the Anti-Foreigners Agitation in the state.

The protests were directed against people considered foreign nationals, especially Bangladeshi Muslims. The uprising continued for more than five years and was led by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad. The student-led movement gained support across Assam and thrived on the fear that continuous migration would result in an imbalance in the state.

The agitation further escalated into chaos in 1979 when it was discovered that the voter list for a Lok Sabha by-election allegedly included the names of illegal immigrants. After the demand to remove the names of these immigrants from the voter list was pushed aside, tensions rose on the day of polling.

The conflict between the Tiwa tribal community and Bengali-origin Muslim settlers in the Nagaon–Morigaon belt spread across 14 villages. The government put the official death toll at around 1,800, but unofficial estimates suggest that the number of deaths in the 1983 Nellie Massacre exceeded 3,000.

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