Until June 7, 1980, Mandai hardly featured on any map. It was just a nondescript village located about 34 km from Tripura’s capital Agartala. But post-June 8, it shot into the limelight, like Nellie, for the massacre that took place in the region.
On June 1, 1980, Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti (TUJS) had called a shutdown in Old Mandwi. The shutdown continued till June 6. Amid the ongoing strike, three TUJS volunteers reportedly disappeared from Amarpur in Gomati District of Tripura while picketing in support of the bandh.
Shortly after the incident, one tribal fruit trader was attacked at Lembucherra market, located on the outskirts of Agartala city. The tension soon boiled over. According to eyewitnesses, arson, looting and attacks in non-tribal areas dominated the headlines of June 6 and June 7. And then came June 8. That day, eyewitnesses say, Bengali families, anticipating further escalation and a worsening law-and-order situation, were evacuating the village when an armed, angry mob launched the deadly attack.
Hours later, 225 people had been butchered. Many people say the official figure of 225 declared was way off the mark, and that the real figure stands above 400. In this episode, we try to Decode what led to Tripura’s biggest and yet somehow lesser-known massacre.
01:15 MANDAI: THE LESSER KNOWN MASSACRE OF NORTHEAST INDIA
01:58 Chapter 1: The village of Mandai
02:22 Chapter 2: A massacre years in making
03:38 Chapter 3: The dreaded question of ‘ownership’
04:43 Chapter 4: One protest, many repercussions
05:55 Chapter 5: Denial, delay and distrust
07:56 Chapter 6: 42 years later: A new Tripura, or merely glossing over old fault lines?
09:45 Credentials
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5 окт 2024
