A great military officer of India received the honor he deserved after 70 years for his contribution. CDS General Vipin Rawat, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Meghalaya Chief Minister Konrad Sangma, Union Sports Minister Kiran Rijiju and Governor of Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday (February 14, 2021) in honor of Major Ralengnao Bob Khating, who merged Tawang into India The memorial to Khating was unveiled in the presence of Brigadier (retd) BD Mishra.
Khating, then an assistant political officer of the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA), was born in the Tangkhul Naga community of Manipur. He had joined Tawang in India on January 17, 1951 without any bloodshed. He was supported by 200 personnel of Assam Rifles in this work. This happened at the behest of Jairamdas Daulatram, then the Governor of Assam. Before that Tawang was part of the independent Tibet administration.
Major Ralengnao Bob Khating, who merged Tawang into India, served as the first officer of the Indian Frontier Administrative Service (IAFS), the Chief Secretary of Nagaland and the first Indian ambassador to the tribal community abroad, but was never honored for Tawang achievement has not been. He received the Member of British Empire honors from the Padma Shri and the British Government. His son John has also retired from IRS service.
In the presence of John and his family, the work of laying the foundation stone of the Major Ralengnao Bob Khating Memorial was completed in the Kalawangpu Auditorium. Talking about the life of Major Ralengnao Bob Khating, he was educated up to 5th in a local missionary school. His intellectual ability earned him scholarship to study at the Government High School in Shillong, the then capital of Assam.
He was the first person from the tribal community of Manipur to receive a bachelor’s degree from Bishop Cotton College in Guwahati. After this, he started a school in Barasingha, Darram, Assam and started teaching. Then a British officer made him headmaster at Ukhrul High School. At the time of the second world war in 1939, he decided to join the army. The 5 feet 3 inch Bob was the first Manipuri to receive the ‘King’s Commission’.
His height did not come in the way of his abilities during his enlistment in the army, but he had to face difficulties for this. He trained under the leadership of Major KS Thimayya (head of the Indian Army after independence) and then joined the 19th Hyderabad Regiment (later 7th Kumaon Regiment). While working as a logistics officer in Jorhat, he assisted the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) against the Japanese army.
The people of Manipuri tribal groups in Burma Road served as guides for the British Army in this war. The Maharaja of Manipur decided to merge with India keeping in mind the invasion of Burma and in 1949 it became an Indian state. In 1950, he served in the Assam Rifles at the request of the then Governor of Assam, Akbar Hydari. Then the area was in a very bad condition due to the Assam-Tibet earthquake.
He played a big role in relief work. After this, he became Assistant Political Officer in Arunachal Pradesh and all his diplomacy was convinced. On January 17, 1951, he marched towards Tawang. He spoke to the village elders, met with Tibetan officials and reviewed the stringent taxes imposed on the Monpa tribal community by the Tibetan administration. During his visit to Tawang, PM Nehru wrote a letter to his foreign secretary. He wrote in this letter,
“I am constantly hearing about the activities being carried out on the North-Eastern borders by the Defense Committee. This creates a stir on the border of Tibet and Nepal. These matters were never brought before me for my opinion. The Governor of Assam and others are taking decisions. Going to our Tawang and taking control there can cause international problems, I have said before. I do not understand how all this is happening without my knowledge. “
But all this was happening at the behest of the visionary leader, who died prematurely, but his policies were still doing good for the country. Sardar Patel had told Jairamdas Daulatram and Major Bob during his lifetime to conduct this operation without consulting Nehru, because he did not want another Kashmir problem. He also solved the 800-km Myanmar border problems.
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