https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Tankeswar_ChetiaTankeswar Chetia - Revision history2026-10-21T11:20:33ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tankeswar_Chetia&diff=539571&oldid=prevAdvancedacademy: added some details w/ sources.2026-04-27T01:11:33Z<p>added some details w/ sources.</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian statesman, anti-colonial activist, and educationist}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2026}}<br />
{{Infobox officeholder<br />
| image = <br />
| caption = <br />
| office = Member of [[Assam Legislative Assembly]]<br />
| constituency = [[Nazira Assembly constituency|Nazira]]<br />
| predecessor = Ananda Chandra Bezbarua<br />
| successor = K.K. Gogoi<br />
| birth_place = <br />
| birth_date = 9 March 1915<br />
| spouse = Surya Prova Baruah<br />
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]<br />
| website = <br />
| footnotes = <br />
| term = 1957 – 1967<br />
| occupation = {{hlist|Statesman|anti-colonial activist|educationist}}<br />
| children = 5<br />
| name = Tankeswar Chetia<br />
| death_date = Unknown; after 2007<br />
| parents = {{ubl|Khogeswar Chetia (father)|Luita Chetia (mother)}}<br />
| alma_mater = [[Cotton University|Cotton College]]<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Tankeswar Chetia''' (9 March 1915 – after 2007) was an Indian statesman, [[freedom fighter]], [[Decolonization|anti-colonial activist]], and educationist who served two terms as the Member of [[Assam Legislative Assembly]] for [[Nazira]] from 1957 to 1967.<br />
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== Early life and education ==<br />
Tankeswar Chetia was born on 9 March 1915, the son of Khogeswar and Luita Chetia.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Akhtar |first=Sajmina |date=29 February 2024 |title=LESSER KNOWN FREEDOM FIGHTERS OF THE HISTORIC CITY OF ASSAM |url=https://s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/ijmer/pdf/volume13/volume13-issue2(3)/29.pdf |access-date=21 February 2026}}</ref><br />
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Chetia completed his primary education in Namti Chariali and then studied at Nazira High School. He completed his matriculation from Jorhat centre under [[University of Calcutta|Calcutta university]], and his [[Indian School Certificate|ISc]] before he graduated from [[Cotton College, Gauhati|Cotton College]].<ref name=":0" /><br />
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== Early political activism ==<br />
During his studies at Cotton College, Chetia, along with other students, became involved with the [[Indian independence movement]]. Having been influenced by [[Gopinath Bordoloi]], he organised several anti-British meetings in Namti.<ref name=":0" /><br />
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In May 1932, he took part in the students strike against [[British rule in Assam|British rule]] while he was in Class III at Nazira high school. In the area he was also involved in the opium prohibition movement and [[satyagraha]] movement. In 1941–1942, he was given a police [[Lathi (stick)|lathi]] [[Baton charge|charge]] while opposing war efforts as a [[Student protest|student protester]] in Gauhati at Cotton College during the [[Quit India Movement]].<ref name=":1" /><br />
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Chetia was arrested on 26 September 1942{{Efn|Other sources note the date of the arrest as 29 September; this article records the date given by MLA Khogendra Nath Borbaruah in "Ek Aparajeya Duranta Tarun Srijut Tankeswar Chetia"}} at Namti Chariali Railway station with other students and teachers for hampering military supply. <ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Baruah |first=Manoj Kumar |title=Ek Aparajeya Duranta Tarun Srijut Tankeswar Chetia |last2=Gogoi |first2=Bimal Bibhuti |publisher=Namti Press |year=2007 |location=Namti}}</ref> He was detained at the station for 24 hours in handcuffs with no food or drink, and on 27 September he was produced before the [[Sivasagar|Sibsagar]] Magistrate. A case under section 395/341 of the [[Indian Penal Code]] and section 122 of the 1890 Indian Railways Act was brought against him. On 31 May 1943, he was convicted along with other independence revolutionaries and sentenced for six months.<ref name=":0" /><br />
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A warrant of arrest was also issued due to absence from Cotton College since the puja vacation of 1942 and anti-government activities. His house was raided by police but he managed to avoid the arrest warrant and prison sentence in December 1942 by going "underground". While operating in hiding, he continued his activism in various areas including the [[Sivasagar district|Sibsagar district]], [[Naga Hills District, British India|Naga Hills district]], [[Manipur|Manipur state]] and [[Dhaka District|Dhaka district]]. During this time, he helped Namti high school through fund collection, and also supplied volunteers with necessities and blankets, as well as incendiary materials such as [[Detonator|detonators]].<ref name=":1" /><br />
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== Political and teaching career ==<br />
At the [[1957 Assam Legislative Assembly election]], Chetia was elected as the member of Assam Legislative Assembly for [[Nazira]]. He stood as the [[Indian National Congress]] candidate and won 8598 votes.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Nazira Election Results 2016, Candidate list, Winner, Runner-up and Current MLAs |url=https://www.elections.in/assam/assembly-constituencies/nazira.html |access-date=21 February 2026 |website=Elections in India}}</ref> He was reelected at the [[1962 Assam Legislative Assembly election]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Assam Legislative Assembly - MLA 1962-67 |url=http://assamassembly.gov.in/mla-1962-67.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815221300/http://assamassembly.gov.in/mla-1962-67.html |archive-date=15 August 2021 |access-date=21 February 2026 |website=assamassembly.gov.in}}</ref> He was not selected as the Congress candidate for the [[1967 Assam Legislative Assembly election|1967 election]], and was succeeded by K.K. Gogoi.<ref name=":2" /> Due to his disappointment at not being selected as the Congress candidate in the 1967 election, he set up his wife, Surya Prova Chetia, to contest election for the [[Sonari Assembly constituency|Sonari assembly constituency]] against Chief Minister [[Bimala Prasad Chaliha]]. She polled 2,000 out of 20,838 votes and was defeated in the election.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hazarika |first=Niru |date=1978 |title=ROLE OF WOMEN IN STATE POLITICS (Assam) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41854820 |journal=The Indian Journal of Political Science |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=61–78 |issn=0019-5510}}</ref><br />
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After leaving politics, Chetia worked in education and became the headmaster of Namti boys school.<ref name=":1" /><br />
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== Personal life ==<br />
Chetia was married to Surya Prova Baruah and together they had five children: Naba Kumar, Sameer Kumar, Ashim Kumar, Juthika and Beethika.<ref name=":1" /> <br />
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== See also ==<br />
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* [[List of Indian independence activists]]<br />
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== Notes ==<br />
{{Notelist}}<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chetia, Tankeswar}}<br />
[[Category:1915 births]]<br />
[[Category:Indian independence activists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian anti-imperialists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian anti-war activists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian educators]]<br />
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of British India]]<br />
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Assam]]<br />
[[Category:Cotton College, Guwahati alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Assam MLAs 1957–1962]]<br />
[[Category:Assam MLAs 1962–1967]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian educators]]<br />
[[Category:Year of death missing]]</div>Advancedacademy