Hokato Hotozhe Sema
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YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
As in 2024
Sabi.Hussain & Prabir Kalita, TNN, Sep 8, 2024: The Times of India
Nagaland’s Hokato Hotozhe Sema grew up hearing extraordinary tales of bravery and sacrifices of Indian army men from his parents and grandparents. Though his father was a schoolteacher and mother a housewife, the stories of soldiers from northeast displaying the highest level of courage and valour while serving the country’s defence forces left a lasting impact on Sema’s mind. He decided to join the army to serve the motherland.
Like most teenagers from northeast, the Dimapur-born Sema had a deep passion for heavy metal and rock and could have made a career in music. But he had made his choice and there was no going back. He joined the Indian army’s 9 Assam Regiment at the age of 17 and was posted at Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district. On Oct 14, 2002, on his very first assignment — a counter infiltration operation in Chowkibal — he became a casualty of a mine blast and lost his left leg below the knee.
Now a Naib Subedar, Sema, 40, won his other battle on Friday with sheer grit and determination. He won the bronze medal in men’s shotput at Paris 2024 Paralympics. after coming up with his career-best throw of 14.65m in the men’s F57 category final at the Stade de France arena. It was the first-ever medal won by an athlete from Nagaland, either at the Olympics or Paralympics.
The landmine explosion resulted in amputation and left his ambition of joining the country’s elite special forces shattered. He found hope in the Army Paralympic Sports Node centre in Pune which has helped several differently abled athletes to walk again with dignity and got the highly specialised running prosthesis fitted. “It was the toughest moment for me. Performing a desk job at the unit was not my strength. I had always dreamed of fighting as a frontline soldier.
“Unfortunately, that would never happen again. It took me several months to accept the harsh reality of my life,” he said. He continued to serve with the unit for the next 14 years.
“It’s a proud moment for us,” Lieutenant Colonel Nitten Mehta, a current officer in charge of the Node, told TOI from Paris. “Sema has been diligently preparing for the competition at the facility and has consistently excelled at the international level.
“Today, he has once again demonstrated his talent under the highest pressure. He is the first athlete from APN to win a Paralympic medal,” he added.
Unwilling to give up, Sema took up para shot put at the age of 32 while serving with the army. He was told by his fellow army personnel that serving the nation doesn’t alone mean fighting the enemies on the battlefield, but one can also make the country proud by excelling in sports and bringing medal glory to the motherland.
“This medal is for my wife. She has sacrificed a lot for me. She has often starved, so that I could eat and continue training because we didn’t have enough money to ensure two square meals a day. She has been my biggest pillar of support.
“She has picked me up every time I felt like giving up. Without her, I would not have been on the podium today,” said Sema, who is still part of the Indian army and is currently based in Pune.
Sema’s first of his six throws was a mediocre 13.88m. But once he settled down in his zone, he never looked back. He touched the 14m mark on his second and improved it further with a heave of 14.40m. He then came up with a throw of 14.49m in his fourth attempt, bettering his personal best. He saved the best for the last when his throw landed past the 14.65m mark.
“As an army man, I felt if Neeraj Chopra could do it for the Indian army and for India as an able-bodied athlete, as a para-athlete from the army, why can’t I? I am happy with my performance. It feels great to win a medal for the country,” said Sema, who is the second of the four siblings.
Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio announced a cash reward of Rs 1.5 crore for Sema and said he would request the Centre to get Sema the Arjuna award. (Inputs from Sandip.Dighe@timesofindia.com)
