Guwahati, Feb 9 (IANS) Congress MP and Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Gaurav Gogoi on Monday sought to clarify controversies surrounding his past visit to Pakistan while launching a sharp attack on the Assam government, alleging systematic misuse of officials and Special Investigation Teams (SITs) to serve Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s political agenda.

Speaking to IANS, Gogoi said his Pakistan visit was purely personal and linked to his wife’s professional commitments soon after their marriage.

“When I visited Pakistan, I was accompanying my wife, whom I had married just two-and-a-half months earlier. She was participating in an international programme involving NGOs from across the world, including Indian and Pakistani organisations,” he said.

Gogoi stated that he joined his wife on the trip to understand her work environment and living conditions. He dismissed claims linking him to any questionable meetings during the visit, saying he had no recollection of meeting the individual being referred to in recent allegations.

“I joined her on this work visit and nothing more. Attempts are being made to create false narratives,” he said.

Turning his attack on the state government, the Congress MP alleged that officials in Assam were being “used and misused” to suppress facts.

He claimed that the same officers were part of multiple SITs, including one probing issues related to him and another investigating the death of noted singer Zubeen Garg.

“Even in the Zubeen Garg case, what officials in Singapore have said is completely different from what the SIT here has reported,” Gogoi claimed, questioning the credibility and independence of such investigations.

He said this raised serious doubts about the functioning of SITs constituted by the Assam government.

According to Gogoi, these investigative bodies have been reduced to “personal instruments” of Chief Minister Sarma to exercise political influence rather than uncover the truth.

“These SITs are not meant to deliver justice but to settle political scores,” he alleged.

The Congress leader said he had full faith in constitutional institutions but warned against the continued politicisation of administrative machinery.

He maintained that the people of Assam were watching closely and would judge attempts to divert attention from governance failures through what he described as manufactured controversies.

—IANS

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