SIT probe a matter of national security, not politics: BJP to Gogoi

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Pradan Baruah on Sunday stated that Congress Assam President and Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi should clarify his position on the Special Investigation Team (SIT) inquiry, calling it a matter of national security rather than electoral politics.

Speaking to ANI, Baruah said Gogoi should “come forward and explain everything” following Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s detailed press conference on the matter. “CM Himanta Biswa Sarma addressed the press today and spoke about the SIT enquiry in the public domain. Now, Gaurav Gogoi should come forward and explain everything. We have also made it clear that this is not election-oriented, but rather a matter concerning the security of our country,” he said.

CM Sarma’s ‘National Security’ Allegations

Earlier in the day, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma asked Gogoi to respond to allegations regarding his wife, Elizabeth Colburn Gogoi, and her alleged links to Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, calling it “a matter of serious national security.”

This comes after Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a press conference, stated that the Congress leader attempted to legitimise the neighbouring country. He claimed that Elizabeth Colburn Gogoi worked in Pakistan from March 18, 2011, to March 17, 2012, and her family had close ties with Ali Tauqeer Sheikh.

Assam CM claimed she received salary from Pakistan through a pass-through mechanism while submitting periodic reports on political developments in India. He said, “He has to understand that in a matter of serious national security, and when it comes to Pakistan, you know about Operation Sindoor, Kargil, the wars we fought with Pakistan. I think you cannot divert this topic with casual remarks. You have to answer. Today you answer, or tomorrow you answer. You have to answer this.”

He claimed that Elizabeth Colburn Gogoi visited Pakistan nine times, and that the Congress MP also accompanied her on some of those visits. CM Sarma said, “Gaurav Gogoi’s wife worked initially in Pakistan in a particular organisation. After marriage, she joined in India. But she continued to be managed by the Pakistani authority, and she used to get a salary from Pakistan through a pass-through mechanism. Sitting in India, taking a salary from an enemy country and submitting a period report on the political development in India, these are matters of great concern. Simultaneously, she visited Pakistan nine times from India. She also took Gaurav Gogoi to Pakistan.”

“The visa was given at the request of the Ministry of Interior (of Pakistan). He stayed there for 10 days. How can an MP from India be invited by the Ministry of Interior? How did he spend those 10 days in Pakistan? These are the questions we have asked. Apart from that, Gaurav Gogoi surrendered the Indian passports of both of his children and facilitated getting British passports. His wife already has a British passport. So, these are the questions we asked. I hope that Gogoi will come clean on these questions,” the Assam Chief Minister added.

Gogoi Hits Back at ‘Super Flop’ Allegations

Responding to the allegations, Gaurav Gogoi refuted the allegations against his wife, calling it a “super flop” press conference. In an X post, Gogoi hit back at Sarma’s allegations, citing the Samay Parivartan Yatra, which Congress began to expose alleged corruption and communal politics by the BJP in the State. “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. This Super Flop is in contrast to our Xomoy Parivartan Yatra, which has been a hit in uncovering the 12,000 bighas of land occupied by the Chief Minister and his family members,” the Congress MP wrote. (ANI)

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