2018 Tinsukia killings

On November 1, 2018, suspected militants from the ULFA (Independent), a terrorist group banned by the Indian government and designated a "concerning entity" by the U.S., massacred five Bengali Hindus near Kherbari village in Tinsukia district, Assam. Victims Nisha Das, Sumana Das, Ranjita Das, Mita Kumari, and Manika Chandra were found with gunshot wounds on a bridge in Bisonimukh Kherabari. The attack, attributed to anti-Bengali sentiments, shows growing hatred against Bengali-speaking communities. Authorities recovered 38 AK-47 cartridges at the scene.

Tinsukia killings
Location	Kherbari, Tinsukia district, Assam, India
Date	1 November 2018 (UTC+5:30)
Target	Bengali Hindus
Attack type	Massacre
Weapons	Guns like ak-47
Deaths	5 women
Injured	2
Perpetrators	ULFA (Independent) (suspected)

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal condemned the killings. Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal condemned the killings and pointed towards the NRC process as the trigger behind the killings.^[1] The group seeks to create a clear distinction between "Assamese" and "non-Assamese" populations, targeting long-established residents, including Bengali, Bihari, Marwari, and Nepali communities. ULFA's involvement in anti-Bengali activities has been a source of significant unrest in the region, undermining social harmony and fostering an environment of ethnic and communal intolerance. This ideology of exclusion and violence, which seeks to marginalize and displace non-Assamese citizens, poses a grave threat to the region's peace and unity.^[2]

Background

As early as in 2016, ULFA warned Bengali Hindu individuals and organizations not to support the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.^[3] On 13 October, the ULFA (Independent) detonated a low intensity bomb in Guwahati to warn the Bengali Hindu organizations protesting the exclusion of names of Bengali Hindu refugees from the NRC.^[4] It claimed that the Bengali Hindu organizations were working against the interests of the indigenous Assamese people and conspiring against Assam. A week before the incident, Assam Police received intelligence input about attacks in Bengali inhabited areas.^[5] On 25 November the pro-talk faction of the ULFA leadership stated that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 must be stopped from being passed at the Parliament. If it gets passed, he threatened to turn Assam into a 1983-like situation where the Bengali people would be massacred again.^[6]

Killings

In the evening of 1 November 2018, six or seven Bengali Hindu women were relaxing at a shop and playing ludo in the Kherbari village. Around 8-30 PM IST five or six unidentified gunmen arrived at the spot and rounded up the women. They were taken to the banks of the Brahmaputra river, about six kilometers from the Dhola-Sadiya bridge. The gunmen forced the women to sit on a line. At around 8:55 PM IST the gunmen opened fire on the women from a point blank range. Five out of the seven people died on the spot.

Reactions

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal condemned the killings. Sushmita Dev, Member of Parliament from Silchar too condemned the killings.^[7] Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal condemned the killings and lay the blame on the NRC process.