Peace & Justice: Nagaland’s Only Wish This Christmas

This Christmas Nagaland remembers the men killed by the security forces in Oting massacre.

Naga Singer-Songwriter Tali Angh's Musical Tribute for the Victims of Oting. 

(Graphics: Namita Chauhan / The Quint)

Singer-Songwriter: Tali Angh

Video Editor: Puneet Bhatia

December is a month of prayers and celebrations in the Christian majority state of Nagaland in Northeast India. 8 young men from Oting village in the state had gone to a nearby coal mine; something they did every year before Christmas to earn some extra money for celebrating the festival with their families.

But in a botched counter-insurgency operation on 4 December the Indian Army shot dead the 8 men and 5 more villagers in the violence that ensued soon after. The Army claims the ambush by the special forces was “based on credible intelligence” and they mistook the villagers for “insurgents”. But the people of Nagaland are not buying the argument; for them it’s a cold-blooded murder.

The vehicle in which the dead miners from Oting village were travelling. 

As calls for the repeal of the contentious Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) rages across Nagaland and the Northeast, this Christmas the state mourns its dead. All they want is peace and justice.

Calls for repeal of AFSPA has been raging across Nagaland. 

Tali Angh, a contemporary Naga singer, musician and artiste has dedicated a special song for the departed. It’s his way to heal the pain that he and his state is going through this Christmas.