Lead image: A group of Kuki villagers watch their homes go up in flames in the distance during this year’s Kuki-Meitei ethnic conflict in Manipur. The heartbreak and desolation in this image symbolises for me the death, injury, assault and displacement suffered by members of both the tribal Kuki-Zo community and non-tribal Meiteis during the conflict | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi during his Bharat Jodo Yatra this year. There would be a tight security cordon around Gandhi during most of the Yatra. For this photo, I walked with him for a kilometre or two, before I could find a gap in the crowd that allowed me to capture the image of the Congress MP and his followers that I wanted | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
Like an eagle in the sky, this Army paratrooper soars far above the ground during the 75th Army Day parade in Bengaluru in January. This year was the first time that the parade had not been held in the national capital. But for me, what makes this photo special, is the timing which made it possible for me to capture the paratrooper and the eagle in flight together | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
Indian boxer Mary Kom waves to the crowd during the opening ceremony of the 2023 IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in March. It’s the connect between the boxer and her audience, the shared happiness in that moment, which makes it a special click | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
The moment when a Delhi Police officer lost his cool. Captured during an Aam Aadmi Party protest in Delhi this year over the arrest of party leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, this photo of a cop punching a protestor symbolises for me how the police and the public often end up at odds with each other | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
An attack on MP and Union minister Rajkumar Ranjan Singh’s house during this year’s ethnic conflict in Manipur. The clash between the state’s tribal Kuki-Zo and non-tribal Meitei communities have been one of the most disturbing news of this year. I was caught between the mob and the security forces while trying to get this photo. It was only by accessing the terrace of a neighbouring house that I was able to both protect myself as well as capture this image | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
The flooded Yamuna in the national capital this year brought misery to many, who found their houses submerged. For this youth near Delhi’s iconic Red Fort, however, the gushing water was perfect for a swim. It is this conflicting play of emotions that make this a memorable image for me this year | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the 7th India Mobile Congress at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan in October. The striking thing for me here is that the PM can seen walking the red carpet, waving to the crowd, without the security cordon that usually surrounds him | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
India held its breath, as rescue workers carried out a 17-day operation to save the 41 workers trapped inside the partially-collapsed, under-construction Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi in November. This aerial view of the scene outside the tunnel, taken the day the workers were finally rescued, captures the effort that went into the operation | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
Bharatiya Janata Party’s assembly election victory in the three heartland states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh earlier this month is being seen as an indication of the party’s position in the run-up to next year’s Lok Sabha elections. The confidence and jubilation on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face as he reached the BJP headquarters on 3 December, following the announcement of the poll results, says it all | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
