EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THE HINDU
6 EDITORIAL DELHI

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2021

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Under Modi 2.0, a course-corrected foreign policy

The Ministry of External Affairs appears to have taken back the reins, with an emphasis on substance over style
attitude. Such an ‘either you are bleness and sophistication. Buying proach towards FTAs. In 2019, In-
with us or against us’ attitude the S-400 missile system from Rus- dia decided not to become part of
Striking fear prompted many of India’s neigh-
bours to opt for the latter part of
sia risking potential sanctions
from Washington, and strengthen-
the Regional Comprehensive Eco-
nomic Partnership (RCEP). The
Incidents of hate propaganda, incitement of the choice allowing China a free ing its participation in the Quad only FTA signed by the Modi go-
pass, at least to some extent, into despite strong words from Mos- vernment in the past seven years
violence must be met with full force of the law India’s traditional sphere of cow show an ability to smart-ba- was with the ASEAN in 2015, even

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO
A
conclave of Hindu religious leaders and political Happymon Jacob influence. lance systemic contradictions. though much of the work for that
activists in saffron robes held recently in the holy The Sangh Parivar’s deep-seat- In the broader West Asian re- was done by the Manmohan Singh
city of Haridwar has brought great shame to the ed desire to build a Hindu religious gion too, New Delhi’s balancing government.

T
here is a new momentum in
country and its constitutional and religious values. In a
India’s foreign policy, a clini-
so-called Dharam Sansad, or a religious parliament, key cal sharpness to its external
personages with a track record of inflammatory and policy design, articulation and im-
provocative speeches made unconscionable calls for plementation, in clear departure
genocide against Muslims and asked Hindus to arm from the ‘song and dance diplo-
themselves. There were other offensive themes run- macy’ that characterised the fo-
ning through the speeches, parts of which have come reign policy of Prime Minister Na-
rendra Modi 1.0. After wasting
out in the public domain in the form of video footage,
several crucial years in the politi-
indicating an alarming zeal to spread hatred for minor- cal promotion of the Bharatiya Ja-
ities and render them vulnerable to armed violence. It nata Party (BJP) and the Prime Mi-
requires no deep knowledge of recent national history nister aboard, there is today a
to say that the genocidal tenor of the conference is the visible transformation in India’s
apotheosis of divisive and sectarian tendencies that engagement of the world. The Mi-
have been displayed with great impunity by Hindutva nistry of External Affairs (MEA) ap-
organisations in recent decades, but more audaciously pears to have taken back the reins
of the country’s foreign policy
since 2014. The references to a Myanmar-like cleansing
from the BJP apparatchiks, prefer-
campaign, the threat of mutiny ‘more horrible than ring substance over style.
1857’ against the state if the outcome of the conference
was not adopted as official policy, and the astounding A conciliatory policy
claim by one speaker that he would have turned into a If Hindutva ideology and impe-
‘Godse’ and shot a former Prime Minister in Parliament rious aggression characterised
if he had had the opportunity, are all indicative of an or- New Delhi’s diplomacy towards
the region/neighbourhood during
ganised offensive against the rule of law and the Consti-
Modi 1.0, India’s neighbourhood
tution. There is, however, no cause to be surprised at policy today is an act in careful,
the tepid response of the Uttarakhand authorities in re- well-calibrated and well thought-
gistering an FIR based on a solitary complaint, naming out policy overtures towards most
one person, that too, after much outrage and criticism. of the region, with a deep desire to
A feigned and manufactured sense of fear about the win back the neighbours. During
future of Hindus and Hinduism in India has been the Modi 1.0, relations with Nepal,
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (as well
hallmark of right-wing politics. The conclave of reli-
as the attitude towards the Taliban
gious leaders is providing an outlet for such rabid until they overran Kabul in August
thoughts, and the confidence with which messages of 2021), for instance, were compli-
hatred are being bandied about suggests an expectation cated due to ideological overtones
of official patronage. Those occupying positions of pow- and aggressive policies. The inter-
er and high offices in government, especially the Prime vention in Kathmandu’s Constitu-
Minister and Union Home Minister, must take a clear tion-making process and the sub-
sequent (undeclared) blockade of
stand against this. The political leadership must expli-
Nepal; irking the Bangladeshis by
citly denounce the event and affirm that it stands by the offensive references; attempting to
constitutional values of secularism, religious tolerance be the kingmaker in the Sri Lan-
and the preservation of the rule of law. The police in Ut- kan elections, among others,
tarakhand should act more resolutely and invoke all ap- seemed to stem from an imperious
plicable provisions of law, and not be content with a sol-
plank with Nepal along the lines of acts have been remarkable: bet- However, today there seems to
V.D. Savarkar’s vision — “The ween Arab States and Israel, Israel be a rethink in the government
whole territory including Kashm- and Iran, Iran and the Gulf states, about the utility of FTAs. New Del-
ere and Nepal, Gomantak, Pondi- and Iran and the U.S. In all of hi is scheduled to begin FTA nego-
cherry and other French posses- these, Iran appears to be the weak- tiations with the United Kingdom
sions constitutes our national and from the country. New Delhi’s able est link in New Delhi’s West Asian and Canada in 2022 and may start
territorial unit and must be conso- framing of the world body’s res- balancing acts, but that is a diffe- discussing the possibility of anoth-
lidated in a free and centralised ponse to the crisis in Afghanistan rent story. The arrival of the West er one with the Gulf Cooperation
state” — did not outlast Mr. Modi’s (especially when India was hold- Asian Quad consisting of the U.S., Council countries. It may finalise
2014 visit, clad in saffron attire, a ing the presidency of the UNSC) India, UAE and Israel is yet anoth- an FTA with the United Arab Emi-
rudraksh garland and sandal paste along with an outreach to the Tali- er indication of the new-found fo- rates in 2022. And this comes in
smeared on his forehead, to the ban, when much of the world was reign policy finesse in New Delhi. the wake of the Government’s de-
Pashupatinath temple in Nepal. struggling to make up its mind on On the flipside, however, the ques- cision to resume long-suspended
Gone are those days, so it how to deal with Taliban 2.0, was tion is whether New Delhi can de- negotiations with the European
seems. The manner in which the remarkable. India’s far more de- liver on all these promising part- Union for a comprehensive trade
BJP-led government reached out termined engagement of the Quad nerships given the acute staff and investment treaty.
to the Taliban shedding its past re- (India, Australia, Japan and the shortage in the MEA. If New Delhi The Modi government seems to
servations and its outreach to the U.S.) and the global climate change aspires to be a system-shaping have realised that its desire to
West Asian/Gulf states are note- negotiations in Glasgow, while at power, it must have more men and make India a $5 trillion economy
worthy. India’s new Nepal policy the same time pushing back at- women to carry out its work. (from the current $3 trillion) by
devoid of Hindutva fantasies and tempts at securitising climate India’s relations with China too 2024-25 will remain a fantasy un-
diplomatic imperiousness, and change at the UNSC, also indicate has witnessed a certain amount of less it is able to proactively pursue
friendly outreach to both Bangla- that it is willing to be a responsible careful balancing. Despite the mil- trade agreements, among other
desh and Sri Lanka are already stakeholder in global/regional go- itary stand-off on the Line of Ac- things.
yielding results. If indeed ‘illegal vernance forums. The Modi go- tual Control (LAC), bilateral trade In sum, New Delhi appears to
Bangladeshi migrants’ do not be- vernment’s transition from politi- has only shot up: India-China have realised that the pursuit of
come an issue in the upcoming cal rhetoric to purposeful action is trade, for instance, increased by a national interest is a serious busi-
elections in India, the warmth gen- clear. record 62.7% in the first half of ness and must move beyond the
erated by the recent golden jubilee 2021. New Delhi has also been able promotion of ideological predilec-
celebrations of Bangladesh’s liber- Balancing contradictions to engage the China-dominated tions and personality cults. A re-
ation from Pakistan (with Indian For a country like India, located in Shanghai Cooperation Organisa- booted Indian foreign policy must
help) could further strengthen the an unfriendly neighbourhood and tion even as it is strengthening its find ways of imagining a new re-
relationship. India’s foreign policy caught amidst the vagaries of great participation in the Quad. gionalism with or without the
interests should not be allowed to power competition among the Un- South Asian Association for Re-
become a handmaiden to the BJP’s ited States, Russia and China, it is Realities of geoeconomics gional Cooperation (SAARC), and
domestic political ambitions. not easy to balance the various ge- Modi 2.0 has also appeared to must shed its obsession with Pakis-
opolitical contradictions. New Del- have realised the folly of resisting tan and terrorism. Pakistan or ter-
Effective multilateralism hi’s foreign policy has, of late, ex- global and regional economic inte- rorism pose no existential threats
New Delhi’s multilateral engage- hibited a great deal of agility and gration. Mr. Modi’s first term exhi- to India nor should New Delhi
ments have also become more re- flexibility in managing those con- bited a great deal of scepticism to- spend too much diplomatic capital
sult-driven and interest-based tradictions to the extent possible. wards free trade agreements on them. You are, after all, defined
which it seems to pursue without Consider the following. The com- (FTA). When Mr Modi assumed of- also by your obsessions.
getting caught in a holier-than- plex balancing act that New Delhi fice in 2014, his government even
thou rhetoric. India’s membership plays between Russia and the Unit- announced that it would review all Happymon Jacob teaches at the
and presidency of the United Na- ed States at a time when India is existing FTAs to see if they were Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
tions Security Council (UNSC) wit- closer to the U.S. than ever in its helpful to the country. What fol- and is the founder of the Council for
nessed some resolute positions history highlights diplomatic nim- lowed was a depressed Indian ap- Strategic and Defense Research

Simple ways to better counts of Omicron in India

itary FIR under Section 153A of the IPC, which deals
with promoting enmity between groups. In a country
where ‘sedition’ and ‘terrorism’ charges are invoked in
a heartbeat, the call to a revolt and mass cleansing has
not evoked a similar response. It may be easy to dismiss
While the media seems to be getting it wrong, combining data by the Health Ministry and INSACOG could be better
the hate speeches in the ‘Dharam Sansad’ as represent- (https://bit.ly/3ED4vrP) have the Just based on the numbers that bias in sampling virus genomes
ing only a fringe within the majority. However, given ability to sequence a virus which is we know from the media and from could lead to. If international tra-
the vehemence and frequency of these articulations in as infectious as this. As a result, other public sources, we realise vellers arrive more often in Delhi
only a small fraction of infected in- that more than 5% and definitely and Mumbai, then could the bias
the public domain, it is only a matter of time before the
dividuals contribute virus samples less than 25% of the cases seen in in sampling wrongly lead us to un-
phenomenon spreads among more moderate sections. for sequencing. The numbers re- the first two weeks of December derestimate the speed of the
Hate propaganda must not win. Sourendu Gupta ported by the media are the num- are due to the Omicron variant. spread of Omicron in the rest of
ber out of this small sample which The number of cases is then closer India?
GETTY IMAGES

A shot in the arm

show infection by the Omicron to being somewhere between The numbers will change every

I
n the last three weeks it has
been impossible to miss the
New modes of treatment offer greater hope slow building of tension over
in dealing with COVID-19 the Omicron variant of the SARS-
CoV-2 virus. The news from Eu-
variant. So, the media makes an 5,000 and 25,000 in this period. week. Is Omicron spreading faster
error when it reports this as the Now that the total number of cases than Delta, the variant which gave
number of cases in the country. per day is beginning to rise, the India its second wave? If yes, then
there are about 20,000 Omicron lower number has become less week by week, the fraction of Om-
A calculation positive cases in India. likely. icron cases would increase, as it

I
f full vaccination using any COVID-19 vaccine greatly
rope is not good with regard to the
reduces a person’s risk of progressing to severe dis-
rise in cases and also the severity
ease and death, then the move by the U.S. FDA to of the disease. Every day, the na-
grant emergency-use authorisation (EUA) to two oral tional news has reports of case
antiviral drugs for certain categories of people who are numbers that are slowly rising:
likely to become severely ill provides a much-needed fil- 100 last week, 200 this week. So, is
lip to fight the disease. Unlike in the case of remdesivir, there any indication of the actual
these drugs — Pfizer’s paxlovid and Merck’s molnupira- number of cases in India? Should
one be worried about a virus
vir — are oral pills and so can be administered outside
which has infected about 200 peo-
hospital settings. They are meant for use by people with ple in a land of over 1.3 billion, and
mild-moderate disease within five days of symptom on- when many are vaccinated?
set. Paxlovid, an antiviral drug, was the first to be grant-
ed an EUA on December 22, and has been greenlighted Cause of error
for above-12 years use; molnupiravir — with an EUA on Let me attempt to put the num-
December 23 — is for only above-18 years use. Paxlovid bers in perspective. The reported
has 88% efficacy in preventing COVID-19-related hospi- cases of identified Omicron infec-
tions come from a genomic sur-
talisation or death, while molnupiravir has only 30% ef-
veillance which is mounted by the
ficacy in achieving the same endpoint. The efficacy of Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Con-
molnupiravir dropped from 50% during interim analy- sortium (INSACOG). Genome se-
sis to 30% in the final analysis of the trial data. The FDA quencing is complex, and only 38
specifically mentions that molnupiravir is recommend- laboratories across the country
ed when “alternative treatment options are not accessi-
ble or clinically appropriate”. Both pills are likely to LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
work against Omicron, with the biggest gainers being
immunocompromised people who may lack sufficient Incendiary talk
immune protection despite being fully vaccinated. It was shocking to see on
Antivirals can never substitute vaccines and, hence, TV and read about the
every eligible individual should get fully vaccinated as speeches made at a
soon as possible, especially as the highly transmissive conclave at Haridwar by
some ‘self-styled’ religious
Omicron variant is spreading. Since treatment should
begin within five days of symptoms onset, access to leaders and activists. The
speeches bordered on
testing and turnaround time should be vastly improved.
downright violence and
At the same time, indiscriminate use of the drugs abuse against the minorities
should be avoided — this will not only cause complica- in India. What is worse is
tions for individual patients but also lead to drug resis- even a former Prime
tance. Unlike in the case of COVID-19 vaccines, where Minister of India was
access and availability have become a sore point for ma- verbally targeted. It is
astounding that there has
ny low- and middle-income countries, both drugs will
been little action in the
be far more freely accessible there. This is because of
matter despite the
the agreement that the companies have reached with assurance of the police that
the Medicines Patent Pool. As in the agreement, generic “action will be taken as per
manufacturers are permitted to produce and supply [the] law”.
One also feels compelled to
paxlovid to 95 low- and middle-income countries, while
105 countries will have access to the generic version of highlight the double
molnupiravir. India should be able to manufacture the standards of the law
enforcers when it comes to
generic versions of both drugs and supply them to the
dealing with such offences.
approved countries as well as access them here at a low- While comedians and
er price. With increased coverage of vaccination and ea- prominent individuals find
sier availability of treatment, the world will be better themselves in a spot on the
placed to deal with the fast-mutating virus. pretext of ‘hurting the
sentiments’ of the majority
How can we do better? Let us
think in terms of fractions or per-
centages. The Union Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare
(MoHFW) reports that in Decem-
ber, India performed about 12 lakh
RT-PCR tests a day, and about 0.5%
of the test results were positive.
So, in the first two weeks of De-
cember, about 1.7 crore tests were
performed nationally, and about
80,000 people tested positive dur-
ing this time. The number of ge-
nomes sequenced by INSACOG is
perhaps 1% of these.
This means that of the 800 or so
samples taken, about 200 tested
positive by the end of the second
week of December. If the sample
of the virus genomes to be se-
quenced was drawn randomly
from the newly infected, then one
would be forced to conclude that
Letters emailed to letters@thehindu.co.in must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.
community, little action is
seen on the ground when it
comes to hate speech by
the right wing.
J. Anantha Padmanabhan,
Tiruchi, Tamil Nadu
■ One only hopes that the
Government of India swings
into action. It is a fit case for
invoking provisions of
anti-terror laws, as the
incitement to genocide
against the minorities poses
a grave threat to public
order. One expects the
Supreme Court of India to
intervene in this extremely
important, emergent matter.
M. Jameel Ahmed,
Mysuru
■ For some time now,
members from the majority
and even minority
communities have been
getting away with incendiary
talk. The top leadership in
the country needs to crack
the whip and make it clear
However, all public health agen- out-competes the Delta variant in
cies around the world have pro- Improving the estimates infecting people. This has hap-
ceeded on the assumption that the Of course, these are very rough pened in other parts of the world,
Omicron variant arose recently numbers. The agencies which han- and it could happen here too.
and is still being transported dle the data and the scientists who I have indicated here the kind of
around the world. So, the se- run statistical models would be logic that an interested mediaper-
quencing effort has been biased able to refine these estimates im- son or a layman can use. If you
towards international travellers. mensely and narrow the range of make informed judgments about
This means that the incidence uncertainty. If the number of ge- whether to invest your savings in
of Omicron infections would be nomes sequenced from infected fixed deposits or in shares, then
somewhat smaller. Could it be that travellers and others are separate- you make more sophisticated nu-
only about 2,000 people are in- ly given by INSACOG, and tagged merical estimates quite regularly.
fected, i.e., about 2.5% of cases? If by the date on which the sample Given the numbers made available
the numbers were really that low, was collected, it would be much by the MoHFW and INSACOG, it is
then about 80% of the virus sam- easier for you and me to make possible for you to estimate your
ples would have been taken from these estimates. However, there personal health risks from CO-
travellers. The remaining 20% of might be concerns about medical VID-19, whether you stay at home
the samples is then likely to give privacy which prevent the Govern- or travel on work or on vacation.
no Omicron positive results at all. ment and its agencies from mak-
But we know from news reports ing public such details about the Sourendu Gupta is a theoretical physicist
that at least about 10 cases are data. at the Tata Institute of Fundamental
from people without a history of One should also be wary of oth- Research Mumbai. The views expressed
recent international travel. er mistakes that the intentional are personal
that it stands by the core a high point for the Indian exploitation of the masses.
To read more letters
online, scan the QR code
constitutional values of the judiciary. In this case, the ‘Viva Chile’.
land. There should be no right to life takes precedence G.B. Sivanandam, ‘Meendum Manjappai’
fear or favour in upholding over the right to vote. The Coimbatore It is heartening that the
these, and while making it lessons from the second authorities are designing
clear that there is no place in wave were learnt the hard ■ The victory of Mr. Boric new strategies to address the
India for disturbing and way, which was caused will unarguably boost the plastic menace which was
trash-talk. primarily on account of morale of the Left. Chile has almost abandoned in recent
Vrinda Nair, inaction and utter disregard set the model for the other times (Tamil Nadu, “Stalin
Bengaluru for the looming danger. Latin American countries. goes green by launching
Caution pays and better Mr. Boric has a daunting task ‘Meendum Manjappai’
■ One has been left sense needs to prevail now. ahead in fulfilling his poll scheme’, December 24). It is
speechless by the very A.S. Srinivasan, promises. worthwhile recalling the past
aggressive talk and chilling Chennai Kolikonda Sarathbabu, with nostalgia when
words. Why is the top leader Khammam, Telangana provision and other stores
who said “Sabka Saath, Change in Chile used newspaper sheets to
Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Though the going will be ■ Mr. Boric’s emphatic win, pack items and materials a
Sabka Prayas” silent when tough for the newly elected largely driven by the customer purchased.
there is a deep threat to the leader of Chile, it is a morale country’s millennials amid a Apart from banning or
country’s social fabric? booster for the leftist deeply polarised poll race, is curbing plastic use, what
movement the world over to quite laudable. It is matters is how we are going
Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,
Faridabad, Haryana savour. Gabriel Boric’s vow quintessentially a victory for to manage its replacement
to expand social rights with the working classes in Chile. on a huge scale. Experts
Court’s request on polls fiscal responsibility proves As such, Mr. Boric’s win can should come up with not one
The request by the Allahabad that he is a visionary leader provide an impetus for the but more viable and reliable
High Court to the Prime unparalleled in the history of aspirational generation in alternatives and substitutes.
Minister and the Election Chile. That young voters in India to make a difference in This point cannot be
Commission of India to the country have backed Mr. the Indian polity. ignored.
consider postponing the U.P. Boric is proof enough of the G. Ramasubramanyam, R. Sampath,
elections due to COVID-19 is continuous rightist Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh Chennai

CM A ND-NDE
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THE HINDU DELHI

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2021 GROUND ZERO 7

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A Christmas of grief in Mon

Following a tip-off about a possible movement of insurgents, trigger-happy armed forces shot dead 13 innocent civilians in Mon district of Nagaland on December 4.
Rahul Karmakar reconstructs the events of that tragic day which have soured relations between the villagers and the armed forces and led to protests against the AFSPA

S
even minutes before all hell broke
loose, Kepwang Wangsa Konyak re-
called handing over his phone to a
soldier on the passenger seat of one of
the three SUVs parked midway on the
steep kutcha road between the hilltop
Oting village and the coal mines of Tiru
Valley close to Assam. The soldier, his
face barely visible in the dark, appeared
to be in command. He was the only one
who spoke but in monosyllables.
Kepwang, the president of the Oting
Students’ Union, was among scores of
villagers who had converged past 10
p.m. on December 4 at the spot from
where they had heard a volley of gun-
shots about six hours earlier. Some had
come down from Oting village about 4
km uphill and some from Upper Tiru
and the adjoining Lower Tiru villages a
couple of kilometres downhill.
Kepwang, based in Mon, the head-
quarters of Nagaland’s Mon district
about 65 km away, was not supposed to
be in Oting that night. The death of an
elderly neighbour had brought him
home on December 3, more than a fort-
night before his usual trip to the village
for Christmas.
He rode down to Tiru Valley the fol-
lowing afternoon to catch up with
friends and relatives working in the coal
mines. He was particularly interested in
meeting his “richer” cousin Shomwang,
owner of a coal mine, and extracting
₹500 from him for khana-peena (food
and drinks).
“I was having tea and snacks with his
money at Tamulbari (a junction from
where the road to Oting snakes up from
near the opencast mines) when Shom-
wang drove past in his pickup truck,
carrying seven of my friends and cou-
sins. He turned towards Oting,” Kep-
wang said.
Minutes later, at about 4:30 p.m, Kep-
wang heard gunshots in the direction
where the pickup truck had gone out of
view. The gunshots were unlike those
produced by the ubiquitous muzzle-
loading hunting rifles that almost every
adult Konyak male villager carries as a
habit, along with a machete.
It had been a while since the people
of Oting and nearby hamlets had heard
such gunshots. Members of two rival ex-
tremist groups had an exchange of fire
in a jungle close to Oting in 2001. Three
extremists and a soldier had died in two
encounters over the past five years —
one between Oting and Wangla village
and the other at Lapa village. The shots
of December 4 sent a chill down Kep-
wang’s spine; he knew something was
wrong.
‘Night of madness’
“The mind said encounter, but the
heart hoped not. There were 10 motor-
cycles at Tamulbari at the time the shots
were fired. All of us headed uphill, with
three of us who knew how to converse
in Hindi and English leading the way.
Some soldiers stopped us about 200
metres from where the presumed en-
counter happened and we took a detour
to Oting as told to,” Kepwang said.
The villagers grew worried when
eight of their sons did not reach home
after more than three hours. A public
announcement sanctioned by the Angh,
the local king, was made about the mis-
sing men and the need to search for
them. Messages were also sent to their
brethren in Tiru Valley.
“The Army vehicles, all Assam-regis-
tered and driven by civilians, were rea-
dy to leave when we reached the spot.
We saw in the near-darkness three sol-
diers jump onto the back of a pickup
truck and try to cover something. I
reached out and felt a head, a leg and a
hand, cold and sticky. I withdrew my
hand instinctively, asked the soldiers
what was up. They did not speak,” Kep-
wang said.
He went to the vehicle where the sol-
dier who seemed to be in command sat.
“At 10:12 p.m., I called the DC (Deputy
Commissioner of Mon district, Thava-
seelan K.) and told him something bad
had happened. I handed over the phone
to the soldier and asked him to speak to
the DC. I don’t know what they dis-
cussed, but the soldier handed the
phone back to me after about two mi-
nutes when my sister called in despera-
tion to know about our missing men,”
Kepwang said.
The sister’s call probably saved Kep-
wang’s life. As he moved away from the
Army vehicle to speak, some villagers
spotted the bodies on the pickup truck
and charged at the soldiers, who exited
the vehicles, snatched three motorcy-
cles of the villagers and went towards
the Assam border. “They were shooting
on the run, as if we were enemies,”
Wangnai, one of the 35 survivors of that
“night of madness”, said from his hospi-
tal bed in Dimapur, Nagaland’s commer-
cial hub about 250 km southwest of Ot-
ing. He is recovering from two bullet
injuries.
Before long, the spot turned into a
battleground — sophisticated firearms
versus machetes — leaving seven villag-
ers dead and the Army vehicles in
CM
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Konyak Naga tribesmen with their guns and machetes on their way to work from the village of Oting after 13 innocent civilians were killed by the armed forces. (Below): Children in Oting village of Mon.
flames. When the local police arrived,
there were 13 bodies, six of them coal
miners killed at around 4:30 p.m. in
what the Army called a case of “mista-
ken identity”. One of the slain coal min-
ers was Shomwang, shot through the
windscreen.
Missing among those who Shomwang
was driving back to Oting were Shei-
wang and Yeihwang. The soldiers, said
to be from an elite commando unit, had
reportedly evacuated and dropped
them at the Assam Medical College and
Hospital in Dibrugarh. On December 22,
Sheiwang was shifted to the Gauhati
Medical College and Hospital for further
treatment while Yeihwang was expect-
ed to be discharged from the Dibrugarh
hospital soon after Christmas.
Cold-blooded murders
A signboard quoting Mahatma Gandhi
greets people entering Nagaland’s Nam-
sa from Assam’s Namtola across a ricke-
ty bridge spanning a stream that virtual-
ly demarcates the inter-State boundary.
It reads: “The future depends on what
we do in the present.” The signboard is
close to a flex poster displaying the pho-
tos of the 14 civilians killed on Decem-
ber 4 and the resultant unrest in Mon
town on December 5. Similar posters
are strung at strategic points along the
road to Mon and elsewhere in Nagaland,
a reminder of the greater goal — the re-
peal of the Armed Forces (Special Pow-
ers) Act (AFSPA) of 1958 that is believed
to give the armed forces personnel the
licence to kill — besides the fight for jus-
tice to the victims of the botched Army
operation.
Tahwang Angh, whose kingdom
comprises Oting and Tiru Valley, agrees
with the Konyak Union that the future of
the Nagas has to be protected by ensur-
ing the present is answerable for the
“cold-blooded murders in the name of
counter-insurgency operations based
on credible intelligence”. The union is
the apex body of the Konyaks, one of
Nagaland’s 14 principal Naga communi-
ties, that dominates the Mon district.
The Angh’s standout two-storey
house is on the tip of the hill on which
Oting rests, lording over 221 other hous-
es. His house is barely 400 metres from
the village cemetery where fresh graves
are under shades made of bamboo and
palm leaves. The freshest is the mass
grave of 12 of Oting’s sons laid in a row,
each — according to Konyak custom —
adorned by his worldly possessions.
The 13th victim is buried in his native
village, Upper Tiru.
“That should have been me lying
there instead of him,” 65-year-old Mo-
nyam said, pointing to one of the graves
in which Langtun (36) lay buried. “God
has perhaps punished me for some sin I
may have committed.”
Monyam had grown used to his elder
son, who joined the Nagaland Armed
Police 10 years ago, staying away for
months due to security assignments el-
sewhere in the State. “I will have to
make it a habit to celebrate Christmas
without Langtun for as long as I live,” he
said, wishing the Lord would allow him
enough time on earth to see Yingmai,
Langtun’s two-month-old daughter,
come of age.
Recovering in Dimapur, 30-year-old
Wangnai would be away from his family
for the first time during Christmas. “But
at least I am alive unlike some of my
saathis (friends),” he said. He will not be
alone. The Konyak Union has issued an
order asking all members of the com-
munity in Nagaland and elsewhere in
the Northeast to refrain from merry-
making, feasting and any kind of extra-
vagance. “Only church services, special
prayers and marriages have been ex-
empted. We owe this much to our broth-
ers who have died for no fault of theirs,”
Wango Konyak, the union’s secretary,
said.
T. Nokyem, the pastor of Oting’s Bap-
tist Church, announced the quietest
Christmas ever for the village during a
special service for the departed on the
evening of December 22, a day after all
the villagers marched to the spot where
the incident had taken place. They of-
fered prayers near Shomwang’s bullet-
riddled pickup truck and the burnt Ar-
my vehicles, cordoned off by crime
scene tapes, and vowed not to relent un-
less the killers are punished and the pe-
ople who matter in India offer an un-
conditional apology.
“In 12 years of my service as a pastor,
I have never experienced a Christmas of
grief. We will visit the graves of our men
and pray for their souls and also for
good sense to the trigger-happy,” the
pastor said.
Village elders said the hill where Ot-
ing stands today was chosen in the late
1800s for its strategic location – close to
the plains of present-day Assam and of-
fering vantage points to keep a watch on
enemies in case of a war. “Our people
never ever joined the underground
groups and we have at least 20 of our
men in the armed forces, with whom we
have had a cordial relationship for a
long time. We never imagined they
would do to us what even enemies may
not,” Kepwang said.
“Why is it so difficult for the Army
and the Government of India to admit
their mistake and apologise without giv-
ing operational excuses? God forbid,
what would have happened had our pe-
ople killed 14 soldiers? Would we have
been living in peace,” the pastor asked,
recalling Operation Bluebird at Oinam
village in Manipur’s Senapati district in
1987. An account by the Naga People’s
Movement for Human Rights said 27 pe-
ople, including children, were starved
or tortured to death in a counter-insur-
gency operation following an attack on
a post of the paramilitary Assam Rifles
by the Isak-Muivah faction of the extre-
mist National Socialist Council of Naga-
land, or NSCN (I-M).
A coal-powered local economy
Mon and the adjoining Longding district
of Arunachal Pradesh have seldom been
the domain of the NSCN (I-M) unlike its
rival Khaplang faction. The NSCN (I-M)
has been on ceasefire mode since 1997.
The split-prone NSCN (Khaplang), now
NSCN (K-Yung Aung), followed suit in
2001 but walked out of the peace pro-
cess in March 2015.
The topography – dense jungles, diffi-
cult hills and poor roads – of these two
districts offered passages for the Myan-
mar-based NSCN (K/K-YA) to carry out
hit-and-run operations. The districts al-
so became conduits for the members of
the Assam-based United Liberation
Front of Asom (Independent).
A dossier prepared by the Army be-
fore the December 4 incident said extre-
mists of various shades use the tea, coal
and oil belt from Nagaland’s Namsa in
the northeast through Oting, Tiru and
Naginimora in the southwest for extor-
tion.
According to the Nagaland Coal Poli-
cy, 2005, by the State Directorate of Ge-
ology and Mining, Nagaland has a total
coal reserve of 150 million metric
tonnes. Borjan and Tiru Valley in Mon
district, Konya in Tuensang district and
Changki-Merakeyong in Mokokchung
district have a total proven reserve of 11
MMTs.
A report by the Public Accounts Com-
mittee (2020-21), tabled in the 60-mem-
ber State Assembly, said 44 out of 49
coal mining units identified by the Naga-
land Pollution Control Board had no
authorisation. The coal mining prac-
tised in the State is mostly rat-hole but
some districts have opencast mining,
the report added.
The coal mines of Tiru Valley, on one
bank of the Teyep River snaking to-
wards Assam, are about two decades
old. Mining on the other bank beyond
which Oting is situated is locally prohi-
bited for possible damage to the land-
scape sustaining the tea, broomstick
and betel net growers of the area. These
were the prime sources of income for
the villagers before they struck coal to
make thrice the money in daily wages.
The Army report said the valley has
51 coal mines owned by as many or few-
er people. Each mine produces an aver-
age of 10,000 tonnes of coal per annum,
each tonne fetching an average price of
₹1,00,000. While a landowner gets
₹800-1,000 per tonne as royalty, the ex-
tremists reportedly extract at least ₹5
lakh per coal mine a year.
“Apart from Tiru, the illegal coal
mines in the Mon district are at Nok-
zang, Wakching and Pogong… Several
local mine owners favour the presence
of the Assam Rifles, as the insurgent
groups who run parallel systems of taxa-
tion often demand money from them.
The Assam Rifles provides a deferent in
these areas,” a senior Army officer ac-
quainted with the area said.
There is a theory that the special
commando unit could have been taken
for a ride with planted information
about the movement of NSCN (K-YA)
members on December 4 in a vehicle si-
milar to the one Shomwang drove, in a
bid to keep the armed forces away from
the coal belt. “After the incident, many
villagers fear that it may take ages for
the relationship with the armed forces
to mend,” the officer said.
The Oting villagers trash the “pre-
sumption” that mining is controlled by
the extremists. They point to Article
371A that guarantees special rights to
the Nagas with regard to the ownership
of land and natural resources. “There is
no question of the mining activities be-
ing illegal since the government has lit-
tle to do with it. Mining is done through
proper agreements with contractors
from Assam and elsewhere in the coun-
try, and they include some Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party MLAs,” a villager said, declin-
ing to be quoted.
But the Oting Citizen, a forum of the
villagers, admitted they have been
charging ₹500-1,000 as “tax” per dum-
per carrying 15-16 tonnes of coal at a
check gate opening into Assam where
the coal is usually sold. “We have been
*
RITU RAJ KONWAR
using the money collected since 2019 to
build pathways and other public ameni-
ties because the government hasn’t
done that for us. A shortcut to Mon and
the track to Tiru, which saves time for
our people going to Assam, are exam-
ples of such projects,” a member of the
forum said.
The villagers hope the money from
the coal mines – their lifeline – would so-
meday help them bring piped water to
Oting; tankers hired by them make sev-
eral trips to a spring 15 km downhill dai-
ly. And repair the “main road” to Namsa
that was paved in the 1990s.
No to AFSPA
A solution to the “Naga political issue”
has been as elusive as Oting’s wish for a
proper road. While the Naga National
Political Groups, a conglomerate of se-
ven rival organisations, said the Oting
massacre could taint the peace process,
the NSCN (I-M) upped the ante against
the AFSPA.
The 60-member Nagaland Assembly
adopted a resolution for the repeal of
the AFSPA and demanded an apology
from the “appropriate authority” for
the botched Army operation on Decem-
ber 4. “The incident was a misuse and
abuse of the AFSPA that simply needs to
go,” the State’s Chief Minister Neiphiu
Rio said, insisting on efforts to streng-
then the peace process dented by the
“mindless operation”.
Nagaland’s pain has been felt by its
north-eastern neighbours and the coun-
try beyond. For instance, Kohima-based
poet Beni Sumer Yanthan’s poem titled
‘Oting’ has been translated into the Ta-
mil.
The people of Oting hope the Decem-
ber 4 case, originally registered at the
Tizit police station and being probed by
the Special Investigation Team headed
by Inspector-General of Police, Limasu-
nep Jamir, would provide justice to the
victims. They also hope a probe consti-
tuted by the Army would for once fix
responsibilities.
The families of the victims had initial-
ly declined to accept the compensation
of ₹16 lakh each offered by the Central
and State governments. They have all
accepted the compensation although it
“cannot really fill the vacuum in their
lives,” Mon’s Deputy Commissioner
Thavaseelan K. said. “We cannot bring
the dead back to life, but the govern-
ment can set an example by showing no
one can kill with impunity, with or with-
out a protective shield,” Nenwang said.
His younger twin brothers Langwang
and Thapwang were among the 13 who
were gunned down on December 4.
Alem, Langtun’s widow, recounted
how passionately he had uttered “till
death do us part” during their wedding
at the village church a little more than a
year ago. “He had so little time to live…”
she said, fighting back the tears, also re-
calling how Langtun would kiss their
daughter Yingmai goodbye on Monday
mornings and would caress her after re-
turning on Saturday evenings.
“I want Yingmai to grow up in a world
where people pursuing a livelihood do
not leave home forever,” she said.
A ND-NDE







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