Assam Cabinet asks police to probe Pak links of Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi’s wife

CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Assam Cabinet expected the matter to be pursued with utmost seriousness in the interest of India’s security and sovereignty

GUWAHATI: The Assam Cabinet on Sunday directed the state police to register a case against a Pakistani national who allegedly had links with Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi’s wife, Elizabeth Clare Gogoi, a British national, and see whether that association had any implications on the nation’s security and sovereignty.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (PTI)

The move comes days after Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma targeted Gogoi, the son of former chief minister Tarun Gogoi, on social media platforms insinuating that the Congress leader’s wife and her work with the Pakistan national’s organisation had led him (Gaurav Gogoi) to raise questions about India’s nuclear program and defence issues in parliament.

“The Assam Cabinet notes its concern regarding the explicit involvement of a Pakistan-based leader and actor of a climate action group in the matter concerning India’s internal affairs thereby raising serious questions on its actual intentions and operations,” Sarma said following the Cabinet meeting.

The CM was referring to Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, founder of Lead Pakistan, a non-profit organisation working in the field of climate change. He said that Elizabeth Gogoi was an integral part of Lead Pakistan during her time spent in Islamabad.

Sarma said that both Sheikh and Elizabeth Clare Gogoi have been a part of a global climate action group called the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), which operates both in India and Pakistan.

“Given the broader national security implication of this issue particularly in Assam, the state Cabinet has directed the DGP (director general of police), Assam, to register a case against Sheikh under appropriate provisions of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and other relevant laws,” he added.

Additionally, the Assam Cabinet directed the police to conduct an extensive inquiry to ascertain whether these activities are part of a larger conspiracy and to identify any sympathiser or associate within Assam and across India who may be aiding Sheikh’s anti-India agenda.

The inquiry can also investigate Sheikh’s network within Assam and across India (and) examine individuals, organisations and accomplices based in Assam and rest of India who have aided and abetted his actions against India. The inquiry can seek information from agencies and departments of governments of India and Assam during the investigation.

Sarma said that the Assam Cabinet expected the matter to be pursued with utmost seriousness in the interest of India’s security and sovereignty, noting that Assam has historically remained a hotspot of (Pakistan’s) ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) activities.

“We expect that since Elizabeth Gogoi, who is a British citizen and is the wife of a MP from Assam, will cooperate in this investigation and share her passport, visa and travel documents with the investigating team. Also expect Gaurav Gogoi to inform Assam police, if they choose to seek his statements, regarding any direct or indirect links to his questions raised in Parliament, especially those related to India’s nuclear heads,” said the CM.

Sarma said that the state government would write to Centre to check whether Gaurav Gogoi’s wife had violated visa conditions as she had actively participated in the campaigning for two Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019 when he had successfully contested from the Kaliabor seat in Assam.

Sarma said that it will be good if Gogoi approaches the court or takes legal action against the issues raised. “We can’t talk about many matters publicly. But if the issue goes to court, Assam government will welcome it as all matters will have to be disclosed as directed by the courts,” said the CM adding that it will expedite the process of inquiry.

“We can’t compromise with the nation’s security just because someone is a leader of a political party. I am separately writing a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as well as the party’s state unit chief Bhupen Kumar Borah to highlight that whatever action we are taking is not for political purpose but for maintaining the security and sovereignty of the country,” he said.

Sarma said that Gogoi’s visit to the Pakistan high commission in India at New Delhi in 2015 has been confirmed and that the Congress MP had raised questions on India’s nuclear energy and issues related to defence in Parliament following that.

“Why does an MP from Assam want to know details of uranium deposits in Meghalaya or about which countries are supporting our nuclear program? These are issues of serious national concern,” he said.

“Even Sonia Gandhi has taken Indian citizenship. Why can’t you (Elizabeth) do the same? It is purely your personal matter, but being a foreign national can you interfere in the election process of India? I can definitely question that. They have to answer in a court of law or the police. Otherwise, we have every right to ask the Centre to cancel her visa,” he added.

Earlier, citing news reports, social media posts and other information in the public domain, Sarma stated that Sheikh has been making comments aimed at disrupting communal harmony in Assam.

“A perusal of his social media actively included exhaustive commentary on India’s internal affairs and parliamentary maters raising serious concerns on the said individual’s intention to compromise and damage India’s interests,” he said.

Sarma termed Sheikh as an “influential individual with pervasive roots in the government of Pakistan and its leadership having even represented Pakistan in international forums”.

“Following a scrutiny of his social media activity and information available in the public domain it appears that Sheikh has been in contact with Elizabeth Gogoi, a British national and wife of Lok Sabha MP from Assam, Gaurav Gogoi,” the CM said.

Gaurav Gogoi has termed the allegations and insinuations raised by Sarma and some other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders regarding his wife as baseless and said appropriate legal action would be taken.

“All of this is being done because 12 months from now there will be elections in Assam and the BJP government has no performance to show. They are unable to fulfill their promises and to hide their failures they are embarking upon a mischievous and malicious, baseless, fact less slanderous campaign and we will definitely be taking appropriate action,” Gogoi told journalists in Guwahati on Sunday.

“At the same time, I have full faith in the wisdom of the people of Assam that they can see through this obvious slander campaign. The way the people of Jharkhand voted out the rhetoric of Himanta Biswa Sarma during the Jharkhand assembly election (last year, in which the Assam CM was the deputy state in-charge of BJP), the same wisdom of the Assamese people will prevail. They will see through this mischievous slander and vote in a Congress-led government in the upcoming assembly election,” he added.