Dimapur, April 18 (MExN): The Centennial Birth Anniversary of Thepfurüya Haralu or ‘Yao’ to his friends is being marked today with the launch of the book ‘In No Strange Land’.
The collected writings are a tribute from some of the people who knew him and his children’s memories of a father, a press release informed on Sunday
Late Haralu was the first Naga recipient of the Padmashree in 1964 under the Civil Category. This honor was awarded to him for the services rendered during the Chinese invasion in 1962.
Thepfurüya Haralu was an Officer of the Indian Frontier Administrative Service in the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA). This cadre was a standalone raised to administer the NEFA, apart from the Indian Civil Services that later merged into the Indian Administrative Service.
According to the release, in 1959, Thepfurüya was involved with the rehabilitation of the first wave of Tibetan refugees who came across to India with the Dalai Lama. He monitored the Bhalukpong Rehabilitation and Transit camp for almost 2,000 Tibetan refugees.He went on to become the 1st Deputy Commissioner of Kameng District from 1963 to 1966. On October 29, 1966 the first Indian Army team to scale Gorichen Peak was led by him.
The same year he was called to serve in Nagaland by the then NNO Government. He served briefly as Secretary of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, before becoming the 1st Naga Deputy Commissioner of Kohima District in May 1967, a post he held until his resignation from the office in August 1968. In 1969, he contested in the General Elections and was returned as MLA of Peren Constituency on the ticket of the United Front of Nagaland, the erstwhile Democratic Party of Nagaland.
The release stated that Haralu began his administrative services in 1949 as a young Development Officer in the Naga Hills and also spent some years in the Tuensang Frontier Division. He opened the Longleng outpost in 1950 and in 1955 he established the Mon Head Quarters shifting it from the previous location. There he served as Assistant Political Officer till 1958, with Baba Chingai as his right-hand man, it said. In June 1944, he received a Mention in Despatch, from the British Government for his voluntary service as a guide and interpreter and for accompanying the Allied troops behind enemy lines.
Thepfurüya Haralu was the eldest son amongst eight children of the first Naga doctor Dr Harielungbe, popularly known as Dr Haralu, and his wife Rükhrieü from D-Khel of Kohima Village. His elder sister Neichülie Haralu was the first Naga to serve as the Indian Ambassador to Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua from 1978 to 1980.
Thepfurüya married Lhusileü who passed away in 2015. She was the eldest daughter of A Kevichusa. Together they raised four daughters and three sons, one of whom passed away in 2018. The couple is survived by 23 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, the release stated.
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