Gaon Bura was first machinery of British India government in Naga Hills, says Nagaland MLA

DIMAPUR — The Gaon Bura (GB) institution was the first machinery of British India government for administration of villages of the then Naga Hills, said Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Dr. Sukhato Sema on Thursday.

Prior to the coming of the British, every Naga village was an independent republic having a strong organised government of its own, which used to exercise absolute power within its area of jurisdiction, he added.

The legislator said this during the launch of the book “The Gaon Buras of the Villages and Towns in Nagaland” at the Circuit House in Dimapur.

The book is written by former commissioner and secretary K Nzimongo Ngullie, NCS (Rtd).

“I consider the GBs as the source, protectors, interpreters and custodians of the Naga customary laws, practises and traditional values. Since the inception of the GB institution in Naga Hills during the British India Government and till the formation of the state government, the GBs have been always cooperative, loyal and supportive to the successive governments in power,” Sema said.

Sharing an account of the policy of exploration and expedition by the British, he said the GBs were appointed in the villages and entrusted to act as government agents to collect yearly house tax from the villages for the government.

“The GBs helped the village administration and they tried cases of both civil and criminal cases (not amounting to murder) and disposed justice, and sometimes decided the case by taking oath according to Naga customary laws and practices,” he said.

The Rules for Administration of Police and Justice in Naga Hills 1937 strengthened the powers and functions of the GBs, he said, adding that it declared the GBs as rural police and authorised them to arrest culprits in their respective village areas.

The GBs were placed in a very critical position when the security forces and Naga armies were at war during the peak of the Naga insurgency movement; they played an important role and saved the villagers, Sema acknowledged.

Maintaining that Article 371(A) of the Indian Constitution had granted special powers to the Nagas to practice their respective customary laws when Nagaland was granted statehood in 1963, he said ‘the GBs used to exercise these special powers, tried the cases and dispensed justice according to the Naga customary laws, and it is practised till today’.

‘With the introduction of the Nagaland Village and Area Council Act 1978 the GBs were made ex-officio members of the village council and authorised to administer the village during the formation of the village council,’ he said.

The legislator also urged the GBs to adhere to the legacy of the former GBs, maintain peace in their respective areas, and continue to uphold integrity, cooperation, and support for the present government to successfully implement various schemes for the benefit of the Nagas.

‘We should start paying tax’

Author of the book, Ngullie, said at the launch event that the institution of the GB was the first mark of government administration in the Naga Hills. Before the advent of the British, each Naga village was an autonomous republic, he added.

Having worked as a district-level administrator for 26 years, he said, it was during those years that he had a close working relationship with the GBs.

“We should start paying tax and house tax should be taken,” said the former bureaucrat.

He also said the GBs should be free of political bias while taking on their role because they arbitrate cases and are expected to display exemplary fairness when dispensing justice at the grassroots.

He reminded that the GBs have been delegated a big authority and with it comes the responsibility to uphold and do justice to the role.

The book titled “The Gaon Buras of the Villages and Towns in Nagaland” is a collection of notes about the GBs, gathered from the practical experiences while working with them in the administration.

The author said that the book is neither literature nor history, political science, codified laws or public administration but a simple factual narrative of what the GBs have been doing and guidelines on what the government should do for the GBs and what the GBs should do.

Ngullie, in his book, acknowledges that he learned the various roles and responsibilities of the GBs from two schools. The first was his home, where his late father, who was a GB, taught him, and the second was the school of experience he gained as an administrative officer posted in the interior areas since 1978.

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