The Indian Army in Tawang celebrated Major Bob Khathing Day. On the occasion, Tawang DC KN Damo unfurled the National Flag and paid floral tribute to the hero who secured Tawang when the threat of Chinese aggression loomed.

Born into the Thangkul Naga tribe on February 8, 1912, at Ukhrul in Manipur, Khathing was an exceptionally bright student; he received a state scholarship to join the Government High School in Shillong (then the capital of Assam).

After passing out of school, Khathing went to the Bishop Cotton College in Guwahati, where he became the first tribal from Manipur to graduate. 

In 1939, when World War II began, Khathing decided to enrol in the British Army. However, he encountered a serious problem.

“The British rules were strict: Recruits had to be five feet four inches tall, except the Gurkhas who could be recruited at five feet two inches. Bob, like many in the North-East, was too short, five feet three inches only. But with a clever hairstyle and the help of an understanding officer of the Royal Army Medical Corps, he made it. He was the first Manipuri to get a King’s Commission,” writes French historian Claude Arpi, who has long documented India’s presence in its frontier regions.

Bob opted to serve in a special intelligence-cum-sabotage unit, called the ‘V Force’ formed by the British in May 1942, to operate from Manipur.

For his devotion to duty and his brilliant organising skills, he was soon awarded Member of the British Empire in December 1943. Later, Bob fought the Japanese so well that in August 1944, he received the Military Cross.

After World War II, acceding to a request from the Maharaja of Manipur, he took leave from the Army to join the Government of Manipur as the Minister for Hills Administration; here too, he excelled.

When the Manipur Assembly was dissolved in 1949, he was asked by Akbar Hydari, the first Indian Governor of Assam, to join the Assam Rifles, where he served first as Assistant Commandant. His next assignment will forever remain in the history of India.

Before World War II, Tawang was under administrative control of the then independent Tibetan government. Despite several attempts, the British could not annex it. 

On January 17, 1951, accompanied by 200 troops of 5 Assam Rifles and 600 porters, Bob left the foothills for his historic mission. 

According to the historical accounts of the NEFA, when Khathing and his men arrived in Tawang, he called a meeting on a high-ground near the Tawang Monastery for meeting local tax officials, village elders and prominent people of Tawang.

Khathing used diplomatic skills to win over the locals. He soon realised that the local Monpa community was struggling under the harsh taxes imposed by the Tibetan administration.

He told the local people about India, it’s democracy and assured them that India will never impose unjustified tax on them.

Soon, with the Assam Rifles men, Khathing took control of Tawang, tricolour was hoisted in Tawang and Bumla and the area became part of India. 

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