Pelao Konyak performance at the 79th Naga Independence Day celebration at Council Headquarters, Hebron on 14 August 2025, once again reminded us of the ugly “Oting Incident” of 2021.
Pelao Konyak narrated to Rural Post that “the title of the song is “Wild Naga.” And actually, I wrote this song after the Oting incident had happened where 14 persons were killed by Para Special Forces. I am dedicating the song to them. Thinking about it, the song is very relevant to the Naga independence day commemoration. We are all Nagas and we know what it is like. So, today I thought of bringing that song, being a Naga. We are all patriotic at heart and this is a patriotic song.”
On the evening of 4 December 2021, a pickup truck carrying civilians from Oting village who were returning from a coal mine at Tiru was ambushed by a unit of 21 Para Special Forces of the Indian Army. Six civilians were killed near the village and eight more civilians and a soldier were killed in the subsequent violence.
The Army claimed that the targeting of civilians occurred due to intelligence failure; they had suspected the vehicle to contain Naga insurgents. They further claimed to have only opened fire when instructions to the vehicle to stop were not followed. The two survivors rejected the claim, as did Nagaland Police upon a preliminary inquiry.
On 6 December, the Nagaland Police registered a First information report against the 21 Para Special Forces, bringing charges of first degree murder.
The Indian Army constituted a Court of Inquiry headed by a Major General to probe the circumstance under which the operation took place.
On 17 September 2024, the Supreme Court of India quashed criminal proceedings against the accused, citing the lack of government approval for prosecution.
Pelao Konyak is a musician from Mon District of Nagaland. People can follow him on YouTube @Pelao Konyak
