Legacy of a Frontier Statesman

Student leader, community organiser, educator, Viceroy’s commissioned officer, counter insurgency specialist, military cross winner, minister, legislator, assistant commandant in the Assam Rifles, intrepid explorer of the frontier region who flew the tricolour on Tawang, member of the IFAS, political officer, deputy commissioner, development commissioner, and chief civil liaison officer, area organiser of the SSB (when it was part of the cabinet secretariat), chief Secretary of Nagaland, ambassador to Burma and on the committee to discuss the training needs for the civil servants of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Padma Shri Major Ralengnao (Bob) Khathing was indeed a man of many parts. A proud Tangkhul Naga from the Ukhrul district of Manipur, his contribution to the reorganisation of the states of Nagaland and Arunachal as well as India-Burma relations is second to none.

All this, and much more has been captured in a wonderful tribute to him by his eldest son John R. Khathing, himself a distinguished officer of the IRS (Customs and Central excise) in the book The Life of the Unsung Hero: Major Ralengnao ‘Bob’ Khathing. It has some very unique pictures, including those of his visits to the frontier areas, meetings of the NPC leaders with the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, as well as his medals and citations. This book is a fascinating account of his journey as a student in schools in Ukhrul, Kangpokpi, Shillong and Imphal, besides his college education at Cotton College Guwahati. Always an all-rounder, he was good both in his studies, even as he was passionate about football and about the welfare of his community.

The story of his life is intertwined with the history of the North East – for when the Japanese troops occupied Burma (as Myanmar was then called), he was inducted into the Army as a commissioned officer (the first Naga to earn this distinction). While in the army, he did exemplary work in infiltrating the areas occupied by the Japanese. In fact, as a mark of recognition, he not only received the Commander in Chief’s commendation, but was also mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Military Cross. He was also given the officiating rank of a Major, but after the war, when he had the option of continuing with the army, or moving into the civil street, he opted for the latter, for the Tangkhul community leaders were keen to have him in administration.

At the end of the War, Manipur was one of the 562 princely states, and the Maharaja of Manipur, Maharaj Kumar Priyabrata Singh, invited him to join his cabinet as the minister for hill affairs and Manipur rifles. Post 1947, he also stood for, and won elections as a candidate of the Praja Shakti party, and was reintroduced into the cabinet. However, this election was annulled when Manipur merged with the Indian Union as a Commissioner’s province, and though he was asked to join as one of the secretaries in the new administration, he opted to join the Assam Rifles as an Assistant Commandant, where he was allowed to use the designation of Major.

Meanwhile, Jairamdas Daulatram, the Governor of Assam had been instructed by Sardar Patel to ensure that necessary steps were taken to establish India’s control over Tawang and frontier areas – which were on the Indian side, as per the 1914 Simla Agreement with Tibet. Sardar had, before his death, warned Nehru about the imminent necessity to establish ‘ground control’ over these areas before the PLA ousted the Tibetans from their possessions in these frontiers. On Daulatram’s instructions, Khathing set out with 200 troops and eight hundred porters and mules to establish India’s authority on the Tawang monastery. Thus, it was that on February 9, 1951 (the third day of the year of the Vulture), Khathing reached Tawang and announced that henceforth, the lamas had to offer their allegiance to India. It was indeed a fortuitous move, because this is where His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama took shelter when he escaped the Chinese dragnet in 1959.

Soon thereafter, he was inducted into the IFAS, and he set about establishing Bomdila as the new Headquarters of the Sela sub agency. In 1954, he was appointed as the Political officer of Tuensang Frontier division when the Naga insurgency was at its peak. It was Khathing who mobilised citizens to resist the depredations and forcible fund raising of the insurgents. In 1956, he was appointed in the first district of Mokokchung which then included Wokha and Zunehboto, and it was during his four year tenure as the DC that four Naga peoples Conventions were held, which led to the signing of the 16-point agreement which paved the way for the establishment of the state of Nagaland in 1963.

After his stint at the NDC, and as an Adviser on public service training in PNG, he was posted as the Development Commissioner of Sikkim. But in the aftermath of the 1962 debacle when the Chinese overran Tawang, he opted to return to the region to restore the confidence of the people who felt completely let down by the Assam administration. To rebuild the confidence, and also to initiate development works, he became the Area Organiser of the SSB – then an organisation under the Cabinet secretariat to undertake confidence building measures and basic infrastructure works in the frontier regions. From 1967 to 1971, he served as the CS of Nagaland, with TN Angami as the CM. It was during this period that he played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Naga Regiment, with its headquarters at Ranikhet. In a rare distinction for an ex chief secretary, he was appointed as our ambassador to Burma – our crucial neighbour. Our relations with Burma had been tense on account of the forced ouster of Indian settlers in the country.

His laurels did not end with his retirement, for he was always available to render assistance to the Governments of Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. He was the Chairman of the Manipur Tribal Law Commission in 1978-79 and an Adviser to the Governor during the period of President’s rule in the state in 1980. Later, he also served as the Chair of the Administrative Reforms Commission of Manipur. Not to be left behind, the Nagaland government also asked him to head the committee for the Reorganisation of Administrative Centres.

He was a man with a large heart, who was equally at home in the remotest village of Nagaland, as he was in a meeting with the President and Prime Minister. He had an ear to the ground, even as he kept meticulous notes for meetings with the Planning and Finance Commissions. One of my far removed predecessors at the LBS National Academy of Administration, Binod Kumar fondly recalled the affection and care bestowed upon him, when he was the youngest officer in the cadre – where Khathing was the seniormost!

The writer, a former Director of LBS National Academy of Administration, is currently a historian, policy analyst and columnist, and serves as the Festival Director of Valley of Words — a festival of arts and literature