Meghalaya's coalgate scam: Coal barons, rat-hole mines & a complicit State

Labourers have been trapped deep inside a rathole coal mine for more than a month. The state has been caught in a resource curse for decades.

The Pnar and Khasi people of Meghalaya believe in the legend of “U Thlen”, a demon spirit in the form of a large serpent. The U Thlen brings immense wealth to anyone who nurtures it. In return, its keeper has to feed it regularly. But, it can only be fed the blood of Khasi and Pnar people who the keeper has to kill. The lesson is simple: Illegitimate and unreasonable wealth can come only at a huge cost to the entire community.
 
Ethical lessons, embedded in beliefs that ancestors hand down, are like signposts. People forget to read them