Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 8: The Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma targeted the deputy leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi again as a special investigation team published a report hinting that the Congress MP’s wife may have shared confidential information with Pakistan.
Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Mr Sarma said the SIT probe into Congress MP’s alleged links with Pakistan were serious in nature and must be probed by a central agency. Gogoi snubbed Sarma’s press conference as “worse than C grade cinema.”
The case pertains to allegations that Gaurav Gogoi’s British wife, Elizabeth Coleburn, had ties to Pakistan, especially the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), while she was working in Islamabad under Tauqeer Sheikh, a former adviser to the Planning Commission of Pakistan.
The state government had formed a SIT to probe the allegations, and a case was registered based on its initial findings. After the SIT submitted its report to the state government, Sarma’s cabinet concluded it must be probed by a central agency in view of the sensitivity and wider implications of the case.
Mr Sarma said his government has decided to ask the Union Home Ministry to take over the Gogoi probe. The handover process would be initiated once the MHA gives its consent, he clarified, maintaining that the decision was taken in the interest of national security and transparency.
Justifying a central probe, he stressed that the Assam government has its own limitations of investigation. “We believe there is a deeper connection between Elizabeth and Gaurav Gogoi and Pakistan that needs to be investigated.”
He claimed that the 44-page SIT report suggests that Gogoi’s wife shared confidential documents with Tauqeer Sheikh. The investigation revealed that the MP’s wife was being managed by Pakistan, he said, citing salary transactions from Lead Pakistan, a Pakistani firm. She previously worked as an aide to former US senator Tom Udall and billionaire philanthropist George Soros.
Sarma alleged Gogoi’s wife used to take the Attari Border to enter Pakistan to maintain a low profile. The investigation has revealed that she travelled to Pakistan nine times since marrying Gogoi, he said. Someone from the Gogoi family also helped the Pakistani firm with inputs and suggestions from time to time, he alleged.
Sarma also alleged that during a 2013 Pakistan trip, Gogoi and his wife were allowed to visit only Lahore, but he was later permitted to visit Islamabad and Karachi as well, for which he sought an explanation from Gogoi.
Sarma also claimed that Gogoi had surrendered his minor son’s passport at the Delhi passport office in 2022 so that he could get British citizenship. “In his passport, it was mentioned that the child was a Hindu. But when he was issued a British passport, the religion column was left blank,” he said
To a question whether the Congress leadership protected Gogoi despite being aware of his alleged Pak links, Sarma said the MP was close to the Gandhi family and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi must look into the matter and answer this.
Gaurav Gogoi, son of former chief minister Tarun Gogoi, branded Sarma’s press conference as “super flop” in an online post. “I pity the journalists from Delhi and Assam who had to suffer the most flop press conference of the century. This was worse than a C grade cinema. Most mindless and bogus points offered by the so called political shrewd Chief Minister,” said Gogoi.
“This #SuperFlop is in contrast to our #XomoyParivartanYatra which has been a hit in uncovering the 12,000 bighas of land occupied by the Chief Minister and his family members,” he added.
Earlier, Sarma had also claimed that Tauqeer visited India 13 times when the Congress was in power and reiterated that Gogoi’s wife received a salary from Pakistan. Then Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials can answer on Gogoi’s Pakistan visits since it could not have been possible without help from Delhi, the chief minister added.
“We want a detailed inquiry against Gaurav Gogoi. If Gaurav does a press conference and calls me wrong, I will be the happiest person. I don’t want an MP to be compromised. Let him deny all allegations levelled against him and his family,” Sarma said.
The chief minister has embarrassed himself on the national stage, Gogoi shot back while speaking to reporters. “After the 2.5-hour press conference, he was unable to convince journalists. The question-answer was not satisfactory for the journalists. Sarma thinks that people of Assam don’t have intelligent brain, knowledge. He is a liar chief minister. He has made a mockery of the chief minister’s chair. The SIT report shows that he is worried,” Gogoi added.
