Cadres  of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) carry the mortal remains of  their Vice President Khodao Yanthan after the funeral service at the NSCN (IM)  headquarters, Camp Hebron, some 42 kms away from Dimapur on Wednesday, March 3. Khodao Yanthan, one of the oldest serving leaders of the Naga political movement passed away on  March 1, at his native village Lakhuti. Khodao is an old comrade-in-arms of AZ Phizo, the former president of the Naga National Council. He was elected  vice president of the NSCN (IM) in April 1996. The NSCN (IM) has declared a seven-day mourning. (Photo/Caisii Mao)

Dimapur | March 3 : In a fitting tribute to one of the last pioneers of the Naga struggle, Nagas from all walks of life today turned up to pay final homage to late Khodao Yanthan, the vice president of the NSCN/GPRN, at the funeral service held here at Hebron Camp.   
As the Naga cadres  gave a booming gun salute, hundreds of mourners and well-wishers laid wreaths on the coffin containing the mortal remains of the departed leader  who passed away on March 1 after prolonged illness.  NSCN/GPRN chairman Isak Chishi Swu in a condolence message, which was read out by Steering Committee executive member Q Tuccu, said Khodao was a man who had fully dedicated his entire life to the Nagas right from the very birth of the NNC.
“His whole life was practically lived in the service of the nation. His revolutionary zeal and commitment to the nation is highly admirable. His life testimony and dedication for the cause of the Nagas is a prime example for us all to learn from and emulate. Great respect and honour is to be given him by all Nagas for his selfless sacrifice to our nation for that is what he justly deserves,” the chairman said. In a separate condolence to the family and relatives of late Khodao, Swu said that only few people can make sacrifices  like Khodao did among the Naga workers.  Khodao has left a great heritage for the family members and a great legacy for the Nagas, Swu said.
 “I therefore, on behalf of the whole nation, would like to let you know that we share your grief and bereavement and hope that you will firmly stand with him in the cause for whcih he has given his all,” the chairman said.   Giving  a “revolutionary salute,”  kilo kilonser Rh. Raising in his condolence message  said  there are two types of revolutionaries: martyrs  and traitors. He said Khodao will be remembered in the annals of Naga movement as a martyr who had given his all for the cause of the Nagas.
Presidents and representatives of civil organizations and churches including the Naga Hoho, Naga Mothers’ Association, Eastern Nagaland People’s Organization, United Naga Council, Kyong (Lotha) Hoho, Political Affairs Committee (DAN government), KBES Wokha and  Lakhuti Baptist Church  also delivered messages of condolence.   The Naga International Support Centre (NISC), Naga Students’ Federation and Grace Collins, the  representative of the NSCN in Washington DC,  also sent condolence messages.
Deputy Speaker of Nagaland Legislative Assembly, Ralanthung Yanthan also spoke on behalf of late Khodao’s family.
Fr. Dr. Abraham Lotha and director of Christ Ministry, NSCN/GPRN, Rev. Seksim Sasar performed the priestly ritual prayer and last rite respectively.
After the service, the hearse carrying the moral remains of late Khodao, accompanied by a large convoy comprising of public leaders, civil organizations and around ten senior functionaries of the NSCN/GPRN, left for Wokha enroute Lakhuti, the native village of late Khodao and his final burial place.  
Born on august 25, 1923, at his native village Lakhuti, Khodao was descendant of a warrior family.
On May 16, 1951, he gave his thumb impression with his own blood during Naga Plebiscite conducted by NNC as a symbol of free Nagalim redeemed by Naga ancestors.
Khodao who served as Angh and Ato Kilonser of FGN under NNC, joined the NSCN in 1994 and was elected vice president.
According to relatives and NSCN/GPRN, Khadao’s final words were, “I have done my part, what I can and has left everything in the hands of Isak and Muivah.”

Khodao Yanthan remembered

Legendry leader did not own even a house

Dimapur, March 3 (MExN): When the vice president of the NSCN (IM) and former comrade of AZ Phizo, Khodao Yanthan passed away on March, he practically owned nothing and left nothing – except a rare, monumental and exemplary legacy of humility, simplicity and sacrifice. 
A rare life’s legacy he left. In fact when Khodao passed away at his native village aged 87, Lakhuti under Wokha district, he did not even own a house. He died at his brother’s house. Never having married, he leaves behind no wife or children. “He was in the service of the Naga nation till his last breath. When he died he left no wife, no children and no house. He lived a very simple life. At his death his only possession was the Naga nation,” the NSCN (IM) wrote in tribute to its demised vice president.
Khodao was born on August 25, 1923, at Lakhuti in a farmer’s  family. A descendent of a warrior’s clan, the grandfather of Khodao was Moyuthung Yanthan, the last chief of the Kyong (erstwhile Lotha) tribe till the British rule entered in 1874. In 1932, at the age of 8, he was admitted in a village lower primary School.  In 1942, his studies were interrupted by the Word  War II as he joined the 10,000 Naga Labour Corps as a Quartermaster with the allied forces to combat the advancing Japanese forces. In 1943, he joined Mission High School in Jorhat in Assam. In 1944, as the Japanese forces besieged and occupied Kohima, he led the 14th Division of British Army from Mariani via Marachu (Merapani Wokha road) and encountered the advancing Japanese forces at Wokha and Tseminyu. After the war, Khodao resumed his studies and matriculated in 1948.For his active participation in WW II, he received three gallantry awards: the Burma Star Medal, the Southeast Pacific Force Medal and the King George V Medal.
During 1949-50, he studied Intermediate Arts at Serampore Christian College in Calcutta and later served as a teacher at Wokha High School. In 1951, he was elected president of Lotha Tribal Council and a member of the central executive body of NNC. He was imprisoned in Kohima, Golaghat, Jorhat, Dhaka, and Commila.
The NSCN (IM) said he served as ‘Angh’ and ‘kilonser’ in the Federal Government of Nagaland under the NNC. Later in 1956, he went to East Pakistan and then stayed in Burma (Myanmar) for four years. He then lived in London seeking  support  for the Naga cause. In 1990, he returned to Nagaland and  joined the NSCN (IM) and was elected  its vice president in 1996. In 2000, he returned to the state from London, and lived in his native village till his last.