A decked-up Ro-Pax vessel anchored along the banks of the Brahmaputra in Guwahati on Thursday
GUWAHATI: The four Ro-Pax vessels made operational in Assam by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday are named after India’s illustrious children a Jewish general of the Indian Army who converted a ceasefire into a total surrender of the Pakistani army during Bangladesh’s liberation war of 1971, a Naga freedom fighter who led a revolt against the British rule, a legendary Hindi film music composer and an Army officer of the region, who established India’s administrative authority over Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh in 1951.
This is the story of an unsung hero, Maj Ralengnao (Bob) Khathing, a Tangkhul Naga from Manipur. He was the first person of tribal origin to serve as an ambassador for India and played a vital role in integrating Tawang with the union of India.
Maj Khathing was born on 8 February, 1912, in Ukhrul in Manipur and was the first tribal from Manipur to graduate. During World War-II he became the first Manipuri to get the King’s Commission. He was commissioned into the 19th Hyderabad Regiment (later the 7th Kumaon Regiment) and later served under the then Major Thimmayya (later chief of army staff and commander-in-chief, Indian Army) at the Regimental Training Centre, Agra.