23-Jun-2026

The pictures of rusted vehicles in this block are grim reminders of the horrific incident that took place on December 4, 2021, in which 13 innocent coal miners from Oting village under the Mon district of Nagaland, were gunned down by the Indian Army in a botched operation. The casualty increased to fourteen as one more person died on the way to the hospital. Several others were injured, some severely, therefore making survival abnormal and difficult for them.

Six years after the incident, nothing had changed except that the vehicles involved now stood rusted and ruined amidst thick overgrowth, where a road once existed. After the horrifying incident, villagers decided to realign the road between the Tiru coal mine and the village of Oting.

Talking to the families of those killed in the incident, including a lady who lost her husband after 9 days of marriage, was a heart wrenching experience, as were the interactions with hosts of injured individuals. Many of the injured bore bullet marks on various parts of their bodies and spoke candidly about how the terrible incident unfolded. Among them was one young boy with whom I could not interact, because he was bedridden perpetually. For him, life is as good as over, except that he is still breathing.

I pray and hope that God gives me the health, strength, and energy to pen down what I have gathered and collected so far into a book for a larger audience.