70 yrs on, army hero who helped secure Tawang for India honoured
GUWAHATI: Seventy years after he brought Tawang under Indian rule by reaching the area located near Mcmahon Line and unfurling the tricolour there, Arunachal Pradesh government on Sunday honoured Major Ralengnao Khathing with a memorial.
Arunachal Pradesh governor Brig (Retd.) BD Mishra laid the foundation stone of the memorial at Tawang coinciding with the day Khathing is believed to have hoisted the Indian flag in Tawang in 1951.
Arunachal chief minister Pema Khandu, Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma, union minister of state for sports and youth affairs Kiren Rijiju, chief of defence staff general Bipin Rawat and family members of Khathing were present on the occasion. “Contribution of the hero of Tawang cannot be forgotten. A due recognition has been given to Khathing, who was so far neglected,” Rijiju said.
Khathing, who was more popular as Bob, is relatively an unknown figure for most of India and even parts of Arunachal Pradesh. But people in Tawang still remember him for establishing Indian control over the area when the threat of China loomed large.
“Not many of us are aware of Major Khathing and his contribution towards Arunachal Pradesh.
Once the memorial is constructed, visitors will come to know about him,” Khandu had said last month while announcing the plan to honour the hero with a memorial. The memorial will highlight Khathing’s life and will also showcase traditions of the local Monpa tribe.
Born at Ukhrul in Manipur in 1912, Khathing had served the British army in the World War II. He was awarded the Military Cross and he also received the Member of British Empire (MBE).
After Independence, he was appointed as an assistant political officer in November 1950 in Tirap division and was posted in Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh (earlier known as North East Frontier Agency-nefa).
It is believed that he started an arduous journey on foot from Charduar on January 17, 1951 with a team of soldiers from 5 Assam Rifles to reach Tawang on February 6.
“To establish Indian presence up to the extent of the Mcmahon Line, which was demarcated as the border between India and Tibet in 1914, under the terms of the Shimla Treaty, required covering the area by foot on a very difficult terrain,” an Arunachal government release said last month.
“Khathing and his team successfully accomplished this. He then met and interacted with number of ‘gaonburhas’ (village headmen) and effectively established authority over Tawang,” it added.