A claim that Sivhangi Sonowal is the first person from Assam to graduate from the National Fire Service College (NFSC), Nagpur, has been contested by fire engineer Padma Mushahary, who says she completed a degree in fire engineering in 2023. The dispute emerged after Assam Cabinet Minister Ashok Singhal and the social media accounts of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma publicly congratulated Sonowal on her NFSC graduation and described her as the first from Assam to achieve the milestone.
Those congratulatory posts were picked up by several media outlets and widely circulated on social platforms, prompting scrutiny over the accuracy of the “first from Assam” claim. Mushahary, a resident of Bengtol Gate village in Chirang district, told reporters she earned a Bachelor of Technology in Fire Engineering from the Institute of Engineering and Science (IES), Indore, in 2023 and therefore completed relevant professional education earlier than Sonowal’s reported NFSC graduation.
Mushahary said the description of Sonowal as the “first from Assam” is incorrect unless it is specifically meant to refer only to NFSC graduates. She currently serves as a Senior Fire Engineer with Oil India Limited (OIL) at Duliajan and is identified in reports as the daughter of Taneswar Basumatary and Doli Mushahary.
The exchange highlights how public recognition and social-media announcements can amplify factual uncertainties, especially when honors are presented as singular “firsts.” Neither Sonowal’s camp nor the officials who posted the congratulations have, in the available reports, issued a detailed clarification specifying whether the claim referred exclusively to NFSC alumni or to all fire-engineering qualifications from Assam.
Original Source: https://www.indiatodayne.in/assam/video/fire-engineer-padma-mushahary-challenges-first-from-assam-claim-for-sivhangi-sonowal-1408385-2026-06-15?utm_source=rssfeed
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Publish Date: 2026-06-15 15:09:00
