Guwahati, May 6: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday continued his tirade against Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, accusing him of taking as many as 90 Indian youths to the Pakistan Embassy in New Delhi for “radicalisation”.
Addressing mediapersons here, the chief minister alleged that the “Indian boys and girls” were not informed that they would be taken to the Pakistan Embassy in New Delhi but were instead told that they would be visiting diplomatic missions as part of an international exposure programme.
Sarma even claimed that a few youths, who had accompanied the Congress MP to the Pakistan Embassy, later confessed that they were misled.
On his allegation that Gogoi had gone to Pakistan and stayed there for 15 days, the chief minister said that while the MP has not, as yet, responded, some Congress leaders, while trying to defend Gogoi, were “exposing him by saying that going to Pakistan is not a crime. Another faction is saying that he has not visited Pakistan. So, there is a rivalry between two factions of the Congress.”
Stating that any attempt to misguide or endanger youths of the country in the name of exposure visits, the chief minister sought a clarification from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi whether his party’s MPs were officially allowed to visit Pakistan.
“There can be no compromise with Pakistan and any attempt to misguide or endanger our youth in the name of diplomacy or exposure visits will not be tolerated,” Sarma said, while adding that he would also meet AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge to question the party’s stance on the matter.
The chief minister further informed that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to inquire into the case had completed its investigation even as the findings would be released only after foreign authorities submit the formal documents.
“Once the legal documentation is in place, the SIT report would be made public. There is a statutory period and the report will be submitted by the investigation team by September 10 this year,” he said.
The chief minister also claimed that Gogoi had, during his visit to Palestine, reported in the Israel Embassy that he “had lost his passport”.
Meanwhile, reacting to the chief minister’s latest salvo against Gogoi, the media cell of the Assam PCC, quoted the Congress MP, saying, “At a time when the country was united and supporting the central government for taking action against Pakistan for the gruesome incident in Pahalgam, the IT cell of the BJP and the chief minister were indulging in dirty politics. We (Congress) want the central government to take the strongest possible action against Pakistan and requisite steps for the gruesome act in Pahalgam.”