Nellie and Delhi: ‘Secular’ riots versus ‘communal’ riots

"One has to let such events take their own course before stepping in." This remark was made by prime minister Indira Gandhi, in reply to Financial Times when asked why she had not acted earlier to stop the violence during Assam's Nellie massacre of 18 February 1983 when the state was under President's Rule. Mrs Gandhi was never probed about what she meant when she said this, and neither has the Congress party ever had to answer for what was one of the worst riots in independent India's history, with the official number of dead said to be 2,191, most of them Muslims.

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