Imkong Walling
In the midst of the media brouhaha that erupted over the validity of a non-Naga holding the position of ‘Gaonbura’ in Dimapur, this author contemplated writing an op-ed on the controversy. But a commentary requires getting a fairly good understanding of the subject at hand. It implied correlating word of mouth accounts by researching, including whatever the internet tossed up, on the history, role and significance of the ‘Gaonbura,’ an Assamese term for a rural leader/administrator— ‘Gaon’ meaning village and Bura meaning old man or elder.
The internet though was not as helpful as expected. Whatever literature the search engine generated were largely general tidbits about the ‘Gaonbura’ in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and not much about its role in Nagaland, barring some news reports. The internet was unable to come up with any authoritative answer but the system as a colonial legacy was amply clear.
By all accounts, both oral and historical, the position of the Gaon Bura was a grassroots governance initiative of the British India government in the then Province of Assam. It went on to attain institutional status post-Independence, further going on to be adopted by the states carved out of the state of Assam.
The accounts included a recent book compiled by a former bureaucrat in the Nagaland government. It did not claim authority on the history of the Gaon Bura, but said that the British introduced the system, which continues to this day. Titled— ‘The Gaon Buras of the Villages and Towns in Nagaland,’ it was released on September 7, at a programme hosted by the Nagaland Gaon Bura Federation in Dimapur.
The author’s “Introduction” to the book had a disclaimer that said, “It is neither literature, nor history…” rather a “narrative of what the Gaon Buras have been doing...”
According to it, every government-recognized village and urban township in Nagaland has Gaon Buras. It includes Gaon Buras for the Kachari, Garo, Kuki and Gorkha villages as well as Rongmei villages/colonies in Dimapur. In addition, that there are Gaon Buras for “indigenous” Gorkha inhabitants in Kohima, Mokokchung, Wokha and Dimapur.
It further stated that in the cosmopolitan town or municipal area of Dimapur, “the government has been appointing Gaon Buras” from and for the Marwari, Bengali, Muslim, Bihari, Manipuri and Gorkha communities.
Per the available records, non-Nagas taking or attaining leadership roles in Dimapur was quite common. They were the early pioneers of a place that was incorporated into the state of Nagaland via a political agreement. In fact, until the turn of the 20th century, it had little to no Naga presence.
But this aspect of the city's evolution and cosmopolitan character, which values the citizenry profess to uphold, seems to be lost on the collective memory. The recent controversy displayed not only ignorance of history but also a growing exclusivist complex accompanied by an underlying paradox of replicating village governance in a cosmopolitan, urban social structure.
The writer is a Principal Correspondent at The Morung Express. Comments can be sent to imkongwalls@gmail.com
