Tarun Ram Phukan (also Phookun, as, তৰুণ ৰাম ফুকন; 22 January 1877 – 28 July 1939) was a prominent leader of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. He was popularly known as ''Deshbhakta''.

Early life and education

Tarun Ram Phukan was born in 1877 in a reputed family of Assam. He was educated in Cotton Collegiate School, Guwahati and Presidency College,

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

. Later, he moved to the Bar from Inner Temple in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He educated as a lawyer but also served as lecturer in Earle Law College in

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

Involvement in movement against British rule

He was a prominent member of a political organization then named Assam Association till 1920. Phookan played an important part in forming the Assam Branch of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

in 1921. He was elected its first President. When the Non-Cooperation Movement was started, Phookan took a leading part in it and he toured various parts of Assam carrying the message of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

. In connection with the Non-Cooperation Movement, he was sentenced to one year's rigorous imprisonment in 1921. Phookan became the Chairman of the Reception Committee, Pandu Session of the

in 1926. He also served as Chairman of the Municipal Board and Local Board of

and undertook several programmes for the upliftment of the under-privileged sections of society. He established a Leper Asylum in

. He was a great orator and also a prominent writer. He served as the President of the

Asam Sahitya Sabha The Asam Sahitya Sabha (; Literary Society of Assam) is a non Government, non profit, literary organisation of Assam. It was founded in December 1917 in Assam, India to promote the culture of Assam and Assamese literature. A branch of the organi ...

, a premier literary organisation in

at its Goalpara Session in 1927. He also served as President of the Assam Chhatra Sammelan in 1928. He also bought the first bicycle and the first motor car in Guwahati. In 1921, Assam Provincial Congress Committee was formed with its headquarters at

and

Kuladhar Chaliha Kuladhar Chaliha (20 September 1887 in Sivasagar – 19 January 1963) was a prominent freedom fighter and leader of Assam from the Indian National Congress. Chaliha played a significant role in the Indian independence movement, led by Mahatma Ga ...

as its president. Phookan became the president. The reconstituted APCC elected Phookan,

Gopinath Bordoloi Gopinath Bordoloi (6 June 1890 – 5 August 1950) was a politician and Indian independence activist who served as the first Chief Minister of Assam. He was a follower of the Gandhian principle of non-violence as a political tool. Due to his un ...

, Bimala Prasad Chaliha, Chandranath Sarmah, Krishna Nath Sarmah and Kanak Chandra Sarmah as the members of the AICC. This new committee initiated and invited

in 1921 to propagate the message of non-co-operation amongst the masses.

's visit gave tremendous impetus to the congress workers to carry out the non-cooperation movement and implement the principles of

Swadeshi The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism. Before the BML Government's decision for the partition of Bengal was made public in ...

. All India Congress Committee session was hosted by the APCC in 1926, at

Pandu In the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', Pandu ( sa, पाण्डु, Pāṇḍu, pale) was a king of the Kuru Kingdom. He was the foster-father of the five Pandava brothers, who were the boons bestowed upon his wife Kunti by a number of deitie ...

which was presided over by

S. Srinivasa Iyengar Seshadri Srinivasa Iyengar CIE (11 September 1874 – 19 May 1941), also seen as Sreenivasa Iyengar and Srinivasa Ayyangar, was an Indian lawyer, freedom-fighter and politician from the Indian National Congress. Iyengar was the Advocate-Genera ...

and national leaders like

Motilal Nehru Motilal Nehru (6 May 1861 – 6 February 1931) was an Indian lawyer, activist and politician belonging to the Indian National Congress. He also served as the Congress President twice, 1919–1920 and 1928–1929. He was a patriarch of the Neh ...

, Sardar Ballav Bhai Patel, Dr.

Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...

, Madan Mohan Malaviya,

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...

Shaukat Ali Shaukat Ali, also known as Shaukat Ali Khan, (3 May 1944 – 2 April 2021) was a Pakistani folk singer. Early life and career Born on 3 May 1944, into a family of artists in Malakwal, a town in District Gujrat (now falls in new District Mand ...

Sarojini Naidu Sarojini Naidu (''née'' Chattopadhyay; 13 February 1879 – 2 March 1949) was an Indian political activist, feminist and poet. A proponent of civil rights, women's emancipation, and anti-imperialistic ideas, she was an important person in Ind ...

, S. Satyamurti,

Abul Kalam Azad Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Hussaini Azad (; 11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was an Indian independence activist, Islamic theologian, writer and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. Following In ...

and others attended the session.

Honour and legacy

The Government of Assam, in 2021, decided Phukan's death date to be observed as Desh Bhakti Divas every year.

References

External links

Deshbhakta Tarun Ram Phukan Indoor Hall, Guwahati

Assam Pradesh Congress Committee

Among the luminaries in Assam
* Krishna Nath Sarmah {{DEFAULTSORT:Phukan, Tarun Ram 1877 births 1939 deaths People from Kamrup Metropolitan district Indian National Congress politicians from Assam Indian independence activists from Assam Politicians from Guwahati Assam politicians 19th-century Indian politicians 20th-century Indian politicians