Homage to the pioneers

Let me begin by paying my tribute to two distinguished civil servants — Major Ralengnao (Bob) Khathing and Lt Daying Ering — whose impact on Arunachal in particular, and the NE in general, has been unprecedented. Both had been part of the British Indian Army, and both were also members of the IFAS, which was the precursor to both the IAS and the IPS in what was then called the North-eastern Frontier Agency. Khathing was an extraordinary individual, who started his life as a school teacher, joined the British Indian Army as a Viceroy’s commissioned officer, fought with gallantry in the Second World War in the Kohima Theatre, joined the IFAS, and led the Assam Rifles contingent to Tawang to assert the sovereignty of India as per the boundary agreement signed with the government of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The role of Jairamdas Daulatram, the then Governor of Assam, must also be acknowledged, and it also should be placed on record that the PM was not entirely pleased with this operation. Yet this facilitated the arrival of the Dalai Lama to Tawang.

I am aware that there are issues with the resettlement of refugees — whether they be Tibetans or Chakmas or Hajongs; and it becomes quite intense in a demographically fragile state like Arunachal Pradesh, but solutions have been sought within the framework of democracy through stakeholder involvement. However, the point I would like to mention and highlight is the seminal role played by Major Bob Khathing played in the Naga Peace Accord by providing the necessary facilitation to the Mokokchung conventions which led to the formation of the state of Nagaland, and also all the other UTs and states from within the state of Assam. For this he received the Padma Shri, became the CS of Nagaland, and later our ambassador to Burma

Perhaps of even greater relevance here is the role of Daying Ering from this state itself. He was born in an Adi family in Runne village near Pasighat in 1929. He, too, started his career in the Indian Frontier Administrative Service. Later, in 1963, he was nominated as a Member of the Lok Sabha from NEFA by the President of India. He was then appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary and a Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. In 1964, he chaired

the Ering Commission to look into governmental decentralisation. We may recall here the debate between Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar on the significance of Panchayati Raj in the country. As a compromise formula, this had been placed in the DPs of state Policy. The Commission’s report, in 1965, recommended a four-tier system of local government, and heavily influenced the adoption of the Panchayati Raj system.

Daying Ering had approximately 50 recommendations, and suggested four types of institutions of local self-government, enumerated below:

* at village level: Gram Panchayat;

* at circle level: Anchal Samiti;

* at district level: Zilla Parishad;

* at territory level: Agency Advisory Council (which later became the UT and then the state of AP).

The recommendation of the Daying Ering Committee was accepted by the Government of India. The President of India promulgated the North East Frontier Agency Panchayat Raj Regulation (Regulation 3 of 1967) w.e.f October 2, 1968. The first election of panchayats in NEFA was, therefore, held in the year 1969. Since then, the panchayat elections have been held regularly in Arunachal Pradesh. And it is now acknowledged by one and all, that the foundations of the Panchayati Raj system across the country, as enshrined in the 73th/74th amendment, have drawn largely from his recommendations.

Frontiers and borders

Allow me now to discuss the difference between frontiers and borders, and also the context in which both these terms were used by the British Raj to impose its own categories of governance on the Indian sub-continent. You see, border is both a noun as well as a verb, and when we create borders, we also engage in bordering, ordering and others.

However, in India that is Bharat, and a part of the Jambudwip, we did not have the concept of frontiers; we had what was called the concept of ‘Aranya’ which is the Sanskrit term for the ‘deep forest’, or a kind of no man’s land or buffer between two kingdoms. It was certainly an area from which no tax was to be collected, and therefore kings would not vie with each other to control the area. It may also be mentioned that prior to the Westphalian construct of a modern nation state, tax was more important than territory, and there were many examples in which different kinds of dues were given to different sets of authorities, and some of them may not even be territorial in that sense.

Be that as it may, the British Empire had a clear distinction between frontiers and borders: borders were clearly marked and defined whereas there was a certain ambiguity with regard to frontiers. Frontiers were also regions which had a width, whereas borders were always defined only by length. When you imagine this figuratively, it becomes much clearer, and when you also juxtapose the fact that frontier regions have sparse populations compared to conventional territories which have clear demarcations, you will find many examples to illustrate and confirm this assertion. In fact, one is reminded of the Romanes memorial lecture delivered by Lord Curzon in 1907 at Oxford, immediately after demitting office as the Viceroy and GG in which he delineated the concept of frontiers and borders. The British empire was thus flanked by the NWFP and the North East frontier, which later became NEFA. The lines carved out by the British – Durand Line in the case of the North West, and the McMahon line in the case of the North East — have been the bone of contention, but it must be stated that while a conscious attempt at settling the border issues in the NE is on the anvil, and the recent initiative of resolving the border issue of Arunachal with Assam, as well as of other NE states with each other, is underway, the process of acceptance and integration takes much longer than the simple redrawing of borders. It is in this context that the Namsai Declaration between the state governments of Assam and Arunachal, and the initiative of the Home Minister in getting the two CMs to agree on the principle of resolving the border dispute amicably, need to be highlighted and acknowledged.

The writer superannuated as the Director of the LBSNAA after 36 years in the IAS, and is currently a historian and policy analyst.