‘Gaurav Gogoi’s wife continued receiving salary from Pakistan’: Himanta Sarma charges again; Congress MP responds | India News

Gaurav Gogoi and Himanta Biswa Sarma (R) (File photo)

NEW DELHI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday levelled serious allegations against Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi and his wife Elizabeth Colburn, claiming they have links with Pakistan and its military establishment.Addressing a press conference, Sarma alleged that Colburn had travelled 19 times between India and Pakistan, and was accompanied by Pakistan army officials during her visits.“She worked in Pakistan and then came to Delhi to work in a non-governmental organisation but continued receiving her salary from Pakistan,” the chief minister claimed.He further alleged that Gogoi himself had visited Pakistan “in personal and not official capacity” and stayed for 15 days. “Gogoi’s wife accompanied him but she returned after seven days, while Gogoi stayed for another seven days. He must explain what he did in Pakistan for 15 days,” Sarma said. “It has to be ascertained what he did in Pakistan and whether he helped their army directly or indirectly. The context of the visit has to be established,” he said.Responding to the allegations, Congress MP Gogoi said that “at a time when the entire country is united and supporting the central government in their efforts against Pakistan, the BJP IT cell, including the Assam chief minister is indulging in petty politics.” He added, “We want the government to take strong measures against Pakistan and extract a heavy price for the Pahalgam attack.”Assam CM said a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing links between Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh and his associates in India has found that Gogoi entered Pakistan through the Wagah-Attari border. “We have evidence that he (Gogoi) had gone through the Wagah-Attari border,” the CM said, adding that the SIT has completed its probe and statutory procedures are now being followed. “We have already started the process and by September 10, we will complete it.”According to Sarma, Gogoi reported losing his passport during a visit to Israel, which led to “loss of valuable data.” He also alleged that Gogoi took 90 youths to the Pakistan embassy, some of whom claimed they were unaware of the purpose of the visit. “This was done with the purpose of radicalising the youth,” he said.The CM further accused Gogoi of raising “pro-Pakistan questions in Parliament” after his return from Pakistan. “We want Rahul Gandhi to clarify on the floor of the Parliament whether it is right or wrong for the son of a then sitting chief minister of a state to go to Pakistan. If he says that there is nothing wrong, everything will become crystal clear.”In another claim, Sarma said that only Gogoi in his family holds Indian citizenship, while his two children have surrendered theirs. “The father of the children who is an MP surrendered their citizenship. It is not the children, who are innocent, but their father who surrendered it. I wonder how the children will react when they grow up and realise that they are not a citizen of a country where their grandfather was the chief minister of a state for 15 years,” Sarma said. “This is both morally and legally wrong.”Sarma said once all documentation is in place, the Assam government will forward it to the Prime Minister’s Office and push for a central agency to take over the case. “The Assam government has limited jurisdiction over the matter and can dig up to a certain point,” he said.The CM also claimed Gogoi visited Nepal for seven days in a personal capacity and possibly travelled to a third country from there. Sarma said he plans to seek an appointment with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to submit the evidence.When asked why he was setting a September 10 deadline to present evidence, Sarma said, “I will produce the proof required to establish this which will require time or else his supporters, including many in the media, will not believe it. We will have to demolish his supporters too.”Meanwhile, Gogoi dismissed the accusations, accusing Sarma of dragging his wife and children into politics. “The Congress, on the other hand, is doing politics for the people, for poor children and unemployed youth of Assam. The children are not getting textbooks in schools. Poor parents are being compelled to sell their children to smuggling networks due to extreme poverty. The school dropout rate is very high,” Gogoi said.He also questioned the delay in making SIT’s findings public and dared the chief minister to do so.