Shri S. C. Jamir (19.07.2008 – 21.01.2010)

Shri S.C.Jamir, the Governor of Goa, has been appointed by the President of India to discharge the functions of the Governor of Maharashtra. Shri Jamir was administered the oath of office of the Governor of Maharashtra on Sunday, 9th March 2008.

Grandson of Jongshinokdang, who in the late 19th century, had the providential opportunity to meet the American Christian Missionary Rev. W. E. Clark and was instrumental in bringing Christianity to Nagaland, Shri S. C. Jamir is the son of Senayangba Jamir of Ungma village, Mokokchung district of Nagaland and belongs to the Ao Naga Tribe. Born on October 17, 1931, Jamir did his early education in Mokokchung, Calcutta (WB), and higher studies at Allahabad University where he did his BA, LL.B. in 1958. He was the President of the Student?s Christain Movement, Allahabad from 1954 to 1957 and was actively involved in Student and Christian Activities from his college days. Up till today, he has rarely missed a Sunday Church Service when in the State but at the same time, he has also ensured that other religions flourish. For instance, he had arranged land and donations for construction of Mandirs in Mokokchung and elsewhere. The secular person that he is, Jamir had declared in a public gathering that he has forgiven those who attempted to kill him on four occasions and that he harbours no ill will towards the perpetrators.

In the 1950s when the then Naga Hills, a district in the undivided Assam, was going through a lot of violence and hardship, the Naga people met under the aegis of the Nago People?s Convention (NPC) in 1957 at Kohima to find a way to restore peace and normalcy in the land. In the second meeting of the NPC held at Ungma village in 1958, Jamir, who was then 27 years old, was made the Chairman of the Reception Committee by the Organizers and during the meeting, was unanimously elected as the Joint secretary of the NPC. In 1959, the third and final meeting of the NPC drafted a memorandum which was submitted to the Government of India and after some minor changes was mutually agreed upon by both the Government of India and the NPC which resulted in the creation of Nagaland as the 16th State in the Indian Union in 1963, Jamir was one of the signatories of this Agreement and is one of the architects of modern Nagaland.

Shri Jamir was the first Lok Sabha Member from the State of Nagaland. He served as MP from 1961 to 1970, during which period he served as the Union Deputy Minister of Railways, Labour & Rehabilitation, Union Deputy Minister of Community Development & Cooperation, Food and Agriculture in 1968 to 1970. he was appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru the then Prime Minister who also was in charge of External Affairs Ministry.

He was first elected to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly in 1971 and since then he has never lost any Assembly elections till date. He served the people of Nagaland through various capacities and was the Chief Minister of Nagaland in 1980, 1982 to 1986, and 1993 to 2003. His tenure as the Chief Minister of Nagaland is the longest. He was the President of the PCC, Nagaland for eleven years, i.e. from 1993 to 2004.

When informed by the Union Home Minister in the first week of June that his name was included in the list for Governorship, Jamir declared that he would be interested only if his name is shortlisted for what he called a ‘peaceful State like Goa’. He has been quoted by the media expressing his happiness and gratitude to the UPA