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'If my wife is Pakistani ISI agent, then I am India's RAW agent': Gaurav Gogoi hits back at Assam CM Himanta
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi refutes BJP claims linking his wife to ISI, calling the allegations 'laughable'.
Gaurav Gogoi hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party and Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who accused the Congress leader's British wife Elizabeth Colburn of having links with the Pakistani spy agency ISI.
Gaurav Gogoi dismissed their allegations as “laughable” and said that if his wife is an ISI agent, then he is a R&AW (India's foreign intelligence agency) agent.
“If my wife is an ISI agent of Pakistan, then I am a R&AW agent of India. I don't mind if a family against whom there are various cases and several allegations makes accusations against me. The Assam chief minister is making these allegations only to divert attention from the allegations against him,” news agency ANI quoted Gogoi as saying on Wednesday.
Gogoi said such allegations by the BJP are not new and accused the party of conducting a smear campaign against him and his family before last year’s Lok Sabha polls.
“The BJP has no issue and resorts to these baseless allegations. It conducted the same smear campaign against me and my family before the Lok Sabha polls last year, and the people of Jorhat parliamentary constituency replied (to it) by electing me,” news agency PTI quoted the Congress MP as saying.
Talking about Assam chief minister Himanta Sarma, Gogoi said he feared losing his chair and that the BJP is on a shaky ground ahead of the Assam assembly election, which is still a year away. "Fearing that he might lose his chair, he is trying to divert attention by launching a smear campaign against me and my family… The assembly election is still a year away but it seems that the BJP is on a shaky ground with people losing faith in the party due to which it has launched this attack on me," Gogoi said.
Gogoi’s response came after Himanta Sarma and BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia accused his wife of having links with Pakistan and ISI and asked for clarification. Bhatia also said the matter was related to national security.
“Elizabeth Colburn, the wife of deputy Leader of Opposition Gaurav Gogoi... her links with Pakistan Planning Commission Advisor Ali Tauqeer Sheikh and the ISI, have been found. This is extremely concerning and related to national security, so it is expected that Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Gaurav Gogoi will clarify her relations with Pakistan and ISI,” Bhatia had said.
Himanta Sarma’s fresh claims
After Gogoi’s response, Himanta Sarma launched a fresh veiled attack on the Congress leader, detailing his visit to Pakistan in 2015 along with some “young Indians” on the invitation of Pakistani high commissioner to India Abdul Basit.
Sarma said the focus of Gogoi’s parliamentary questions shifted to “sensitive defense matters, including inquiries about Coast Guard radar installations, India’s arms factories, aeronautical defense, transit routes for trade with Iran, Kashmiri students, and alleged attacks on churches” after visiting Pakistan.
In a post on X on Thursday, Sarma linked these developments to Gogoi’s marriage to Elizabeth Colburn who, he said, worked with “an American senator known for close ties with the Pakistani establishment” before their marriage.
“These developments occurred immediately after his marriage to a British citizen with a professional background that raises further questions. Before their marriage, she had worked for an American senator known for close ties with the Pakistani establishment and later spent time in Pakistan, employed by an organization widely believed to be a front for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The timing of these events adds another layer of intrigue to the MP’s evolving political stance and actions,” Sarma said in a detailed post on X.
This comes after Sarma raised similar allegations on Wednesday too, saying that “serious questions need to be answered regarding allegations of ISI links, leading young individuals to the Pakistan Embassy for brainwashing and radicalization, and the refusal to take Indian citizenship for the past 12 years.”
“Additionally, participation in a conversion cartel and receiving funds from external sources, including George Soros, to destabilize national security are grave concerns that cannot be ignored.
At some point, accountability will be necessary. Simply deflecting responsibility or attempting to shift the focus onto others will not serve as an easy escape route. The nation deserves transparency and truth,” he had said in a post on X.
With agency inputs.
