The Indian film industry gave us Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor with Hero and Woh 7 Din respectively in the same year in which we witnessed an extreme high and an extreme low.
While the cricket team brought home the World Cup, thousands of people lost their lives in the Nellie massacre.
Here’s what else happened in that year that you must know about-
India wins its first Cricket World Cup: One of the greatest things that could happen to us as a nation happened in 1983, when we won our first Cricket World Cup (the second one was won in 2011). The team lead by Kapil Dev was facing two-time World Cup champions, West Indies at Lord's Cricket Ground, England on June 25. Indians made 183 in 54.4 overs and West Indians 140 in 52 overs.
Nellie massacre: In what has been described as one of the worst pogroms since the World War II, the morning of February 18, 1983 saw the massacre in which over 2000 men, women and children were butchered in and around Nellie in Central Assam. This barbarity was seen as a result of the fallout of the decision to hold State elections after the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi gave four million Bangladeshi immigrants the right to vote.
Phoolan Devi surrenders: Phoolan Devi, popularly known as Bandit Queen, was a woman from Uttar Pradesh who ran away from her home and marriage to became a dacoit . She went on to authorise several major crimes like murders and kidnappings. In 1983, she decided to surrender herself to the police. She was released in 1994 after which she turned politician with the Samajwadi Party. She was assassinated in 2001.
Death of Fatima Begum: India lost its first female director and one of its early superstars, Fatima Begum during this year. Having debuted in 1922, with the silent movie Veer Abhimanyu, her last acting venture was Duniya Kya Hai?. Additionally, she established Fatima Films which later came to be known as Victoria-Fatima Films. After her death, her legacy was continued by her daughter, Zubeida - actor of India's first ever talkie - Alam Ara.
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's speech: It was three years since Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, leader of DamdamiTaksal and earnest supporter of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, and his comrades had taken residence at Harminder Sahib Complex in Amritsar. This protest by them for a return to the pure roots of Sikhism took further momentum when Bhindranwale delivered his historical speech in this year. One year later, he would get killed as a result of Operation Blue Star.
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Don’t forget to catch the ‘classic Debut’, a week-long festival showcasing the launch movies of the biggest Bollywood stars starting October 24 at 9 pm every night, only on Zee Classic!Anil Kapoor’s Woh 7 Din to air tonight.
