Itanagar/Imphal, Dec 4 A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) has been signed between the state government and the Indian Army for the maintenance and upkeep of the Major Ralengnao Bob Khathing Museum of Valor in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang in presence of Chief Minister Pema Khandu.
The MoA was signed by Tawang Deputy Commissioner Kangki Darang and Brig V S Rajput of the 190 Mountain Brigade.
With this agreement, the Museum would be effectively managed solely by the Indian Army.
Khandu also paid rich tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Home Minister of India, under whose directives Major Bob Khathing travelled to Tawang and established administrative control over the region in 1951, which was held by the Tibetan administration.
“If not for Sardar Patel, Major Bob Khathing and the then Governor of Assam Daulat Ram, who knows we Monpas and the Tawang region today would have been under China-controlled Tibet region,” Khandu said.
The Chief Minister profusely thanked the Indian Army, particularly the Tawang-based 190 Mountain Brigade, for allocating defence land for the establishment of the museum and accepting to manage it.
He assured that whenever government intervention is required in the maintenance and management of the museum, the government will cooperate without hesitation.
Also present were Tourism Minister P.D. Sona, legislators Oken Tayeng and Namge Tsering, Tourism Secretary, Commanders of the 106 and 46 Brigades, ZPC Tawang, Heads of Departments and senior Army officials.
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh recently said that his government had already earmarked an amount of Rs 3 crore for the construction of a memorial for Major Khathing, who led his soldiers and hoisted the Tricolour and laid claim to Tawang as an integral part of India.
Major Bob Khathing was the first person of tribal origin to serve as an ambassador for India in then Burma, now Myanmar.
Born on February 8, 1912, in the Ukhrul district of Manipur Maj Khathing 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. He passed away on January 12, 1990.
--IANS
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