Mission schools steal the lime light again with Nirmalabas taking the lion's share HSLC results out, highest pass pc scripted in last 10 years
IMPHAL, May 20: Results of the High School Leaving Certificate Examination 2013 conducted by Board of Secondary Education Manipur have been declared today with Miranda Mongbijam of Nirmalabas School securing the top position. Born to M Iboyaima and Non.....
Third topper sets eyes on donning IPS uniform
IMPHAL, May 20 : To become an IPS officer and wage a crusade against corruption is the aspiration of Ratimanjuri Devi Hajarimayum who secured the third position in the HSLC Exam 2013 conducted by BSEM. “It was because of blessing by the Almighty tha.....
Civil services on 2nd topper's top choice of list
IMPHAL, May 20: Fight crimes against women and children in the capacity of an IAS officer is the aim of Keisham Luxmirani who secured second position in the merit list of HSLC Exam 2013 conducted by BSEM. Luxmirani is the second youngest of five siblin.....
Topper eyes medical profession
IMPHAL, May 20 : Determined to pursue medical studies, HSLC Exam 2013 topper Miranda Mongbijam has been already admitted in an institute in Hyderabad even before the exam results were declared. When this reporter visited Miranda at her Thangmeiband Lai.....
SK Oil
IMPHAL, May 20: Amidst the irregularity of SK Oil distribution in the State, the Petroleum, Planning and Analysis Cell, New Delhi has cut down 32000 ltr of the State share of SK Oil without any rhyme or reason. Adding to this woe, 188 kl out of the to.....
Gen strike
IMPHAL, May 20: The Kuki Students’ Organisation (General Headquarters) has announced a 24-hour general strike from 5am of May 21 (Tuesday). Announcing this in a statement, the KSO said the general strike would be followed by indefinite economic block.....
UNC endorses
IMPHAL, May 20: Endorsing the decision of the Aze Longphang, the apex organisation of Southern Tangkhul villages taken in its emergency General Body meeting on May 11, that any encroachment on Sailent foothills will be responded suitably, the United Nag.....
Rs 10 lakh incentive for Everesters
IMPHAL, May 20: The State Government has today decided to give cash incentive of Rs ten lakhs each to all the Manipuris who successfully scaled Mt Everest recently. According to Government spokesman and Education Minister M Okendro, a decision to this .....
NPF flays
IMPHAL, May 20: The Naga Peoples Front (NPF), Manipur State has termed the eviction drive of the State Government of Manipur at Kabo Leikai along the Naga river as ‘demolition’ and said the Congress Government will be held responsible for any untoward.....
Demolition Team tag sits pretty on State Govt Residents of Kabo Leikai evicted unceremoniously
IMPHAL, May 20: Twenty two houses at Naga River Lane, Kabo Leikai were razed to ground today as part of the Govt’s eviction drive of the area. Meanwhile, pattadars of the evicted land have pledged to fight for justice. At the same time, the United Co.....
Profiling the muse in Irom Sharmila
New Delhi, May 20: A 1000-word “very long” poem, penned by Irom Sharmila, who has been on fast for the past 12 years to protest against what she calls repressive laws allowing widespread human rights abuses, forms part of a new book on the activist fr.....
Tml hospital work staring at dead end
TAMENGLONG, May 20 : The ongoing construction of a 50-beded hospital in Tamenglong is staring at a dead end due to want of fund for the completion of the project. Contractors undertaking the construction work of the Tamenglong 50-beded hospital rued th.....
Ibobi bats for mutual understanding
IMPHAL, May 20: Even if people settled around Singda Bazar do not possess patta for the lands occupied by them, they would not be evicted as of now. Rather, the Government would like come to an understanding with the people. This was stated by Chief Mi.....
India, China Vow To End Border Dispute, Sign 8 Agreements Lessons learnt from recent stand off
NEW DELHI, May 20: Taking stock of “lessons learnt” from the recent stand-off in Ladakh after a Chinese incursion there, India and China on Monday decided on further measures for maintaining peace and tranquility along their border. This was disclo.....
Politicians, men in uniform and law and disorder in Manipur
By Hijam Santosh Several people from all spheres have condemned AFSPA but to no avail and the reasons are because the persons at the helm of affairs stand to benefit. The .....
Cyclone Mahasen spares Manipur. Will UGC team do the same ?
By Khingba Luwangcha Manipur remained indoors when news of Cyclone Mahasen expected to sweep across the State (Churchandpur and Tamenglong first) on May 17 painted the region black and white. Holiday was declared for schools and colleges. Safety tips wer.....
Traditional healing methods with special reference to Manipur
By Dr K Paochunbou (Contd from previous issue) Some of the medicinal plants used in the treatment of Jaundice and Hepatitis-B infections Sl. No. English Botanical Manipuri Hindi or Latin 1 Ceylon Leadwort Plumbago zeylanica. L Te.....
Mis-selling Insurance
Contd from previous issue But the panic began when they looked at their account statements at the time of the second or the third year premium, they realized almost all their money had got deducted as costs. Those expecting double the money at the end .....
Grounding ground rules to dust The notuntouchables
They are not untouchables. The reasons must be compelling for none other than the Deputy Chief Minister who also holds the Home portfolio to come out with such a statement. The ‘not untouchables’, that the Deputy Chief Minister was referring to are th.....
Free detection camp
IMPHAL, May 20: A one-day free diabetes/BP detection camp was held on May 19 under the aegis of Namdunlong Youth Club. Many, among the 100 patients, were detected to be in pre-diabetic stage and diabetic. Free medicines were also provided to the patients,.....
Headlines
By : TNN
Bob Khathing : The man who won Tawang
Oinam Sunil (TNN)
He is a hero forgotten by his own countrymen. But Ralengnao (Bob) Khathing, an army officer from Manipur who joined the administrative services and went on to become India’s first ambassador to Myanmar, played an important role in the history of India by bringing Tawang under New Delhi’s control.
Many in Arunachal Pradesh claim it was “Khathing sahib” who brought Tawang under the Indian administration. “Khathing is the first Indian officer to have hoisted the Tricolour there in 1951, four years after Independence,” saysDorjee Khandu Thongdok, a former Arunachal minister who has written a book on the 1962 Sino-Indian war.
“India and China had agreed in principle to determine the boundary on the basis of the watershed. In other words, areas where rivers flowed from South to North would be Tibet, while areas where rivers flowed from North to South would be India. As the Sela river flows from the South to the North, the Indian government initially presumed Tawang was a part of Tibet. But when the Survey of India found the Sela flowing back into India through Bhutan, Khathing acted quickly to establish an Indian post in Tawang,” says Thongdok.
The entire Tawang area south of the Sela Pass was under a vague Tibetan administration till 1950. In 1951, Khathing made the Tawang expedition without the nod of the Union external affairs ministry, which controlled North Eastern Frontier Agency (NEFA). He had by then left the Army to join the administrative services and was posted in NEFA. Reports quoting Khathing say that during the autumn of 1950, he was summoned by the then Assam governor, Jairamdas Daulatram, who gave him a secret file with orders to bring Tawang under the Indian control.
He made the expedition in January 1951 along with 200 Assam Rifles soldiers. He was accompanied by Captain Hem Bahadur Limbu of the Assam Rifles and a medical officer from the Army, Captain Modiero. The expedition ended in the second week of February. According to a book by Neeru Nanda, an IAS officer who was once posted in Tawang, Khathing was greeted warmly by representatives of the Tawang monastery when he told them of the Indian government’s intention to establish a permanent office there. A few months after this, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) landed in Lhasa, Tibet.
When the Sino-Indian war broke out in October 1962, Tawang fell into the hands of Chinese PLA within few days. Indian jawans fought the invaders till the middle of November 1962 defending Bomdila, then the headquarters of Kameng frontier division. In fact, Bomdila, which had come into existence 10 years earlier, was raised by Khathing when he was the assistant political officer of Kameng, from a forest area on Thong Ja Mountain at 8500 feet. “Khathing stayed in tents for almost two years to raise the town,” says R K Nimai Singh, secretary to the governor of Manipur and a close family friend of Khathing.
Dorejee Tsering, a 63 years old Bomdila resident, said Khathing’s administrative skills and courageous move are still talked about in the Tawang-Bomdila-Tenga areas of Arunachal Pradesh. His strategic thinking was evident from the difficulty the Chinese PLA faced while capturing Bomdila. It took the Chinese almost a month to accomplish this task. A place in Bomdila is also called Khathing Point.
Born in Ukhrul district of Manipur in 1912, Khathing was from the Tangkhul Naga tribe in the state. He was commissioned into the British Indian Army in 1941 and inducted into the Indian Frontier Administrative Service in 1951. Major Khathing fought in World War II as a part of the erstwhile 9/11 Hyderabad Regiment, and was awarded the Military Cross and the Order of British Empire for his bravery.
“In 1947, when Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh of Manipur installed an interim government while bringing in a democratic constitution in Manipur, Khathing’s close friend and the king’s brother, Maharajkumar P B Singh, made him the minister of forests and hill affairs,” says N Joykumar Singh, a history professor in Manipur University. Khathing also won the first Manipur assembly election held in 1948 and continued to be minister under chief minister Maharajkumar PB Singh. After the merger of Manipur into India in October 1949, Khathing left Imphal to join the administrative services. He later became chief secretary of Nagaland, was con- ferred the Padma Shri for his contribution in NEFA, and went on to serve the first Indian ambassador to Myanmar in 1972.
Though Tawang and Bomdila still acknowledge Khathing’s contribution, his own state of Manipur has forgotten him. “Even in his native place Ukhrul, Khathing is hardly remembered,” says Nimai Singh.
john
dear sangai express thanx for leting da people of manipur to make them hear tht we have hardly known to such Hero,and giving the privilage to say tht Bob khathing is one of the manipurs who has brought name for us..no doubt tht m meitei n m manipur...lyk Khathing who is tangkhul n manipuri..those days patriotism was cocernd as good conduct n sacrifice..nowadays millions patriot has borned in manipur n dis patriots has the feelings of to be patriot for only one community...we all togrther shall learn from them who just wanted manipur has a whole who made sacrifice for the mother land...we shuld salute to our allmighty heros of manipur...let us unite as a one.. once again.
T lokendro singh
Very interested
Ruhikanta
Salute to the brave son of Manipur.. thanks to the Sangai express team for letting us know about the great man of our motherland.
