Hard in a classical tongue to forget name for baton (5)
I believe the answer is:
lathi
'baton' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lathi that I've seen before include "club used by an Indian policeman" , "Indian police baton" , "Indian policeman's stick" , "Indian truncheon" , "instrument of punishment" .)