Staff Reporter
Guwahati: Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma reacted to Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi’s statement during a press conference in Guwahati today, even as a war of words between the two leaders continued for the second day.
Yesterday, the CM had made some disclosures in connection with Gogoi’s Pakistan links, and Gogoi retaliated by terming the CM’s press meet on the subject a ‘super flop’.
Today, at around noon, MP Gaurav Gogoi addressed a press conference in Guwahati, and the CM reacted soon afterwards, while he was on a visit to Upper Assam.
Regarding Gogoi’s press meet, the Chief Minister posted on his X handle, “In today’s press conference, Gaurav Gogoi made a disclosure that even I was not previously aware of...Takshashila (Taxila) is not located in Islamabad but in Rawalpindi District, Punjab. This single fact raises a serious and unavoidable question. If his Pakistan visa explicitly permitted him to travel only to Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad, how did he visit Takshashila, which lies outside the Islamabad Capital Territory and squarely within the Rawalpindi District? Under Pakistan’s immigration rules, travel beyond visa-designated cities is not permitted without specific authorization... So the question is simple, factual, and legitimate: Who facilitated his movement to Takshashila despite the apparent absence of visa clearance for the Rawalpindi District? This question gains further significance given that the Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters (GHQ)—the nerve centre of the Pakistani military—is also located in Rawalpindi. “
Talking to the media, the CM said, “I will now file a case against Gaurav Gogoi in the juvenile justice court as to whether parents have the right to change the citizenship and the religion of their children. The citizenship and religion of an adult child can be changed. But the question remains: can parents unilaterally alter the citizenship and religion of their minor children? If Gaurav Gogoi files a case in the juvenile justice court, I will welcome this, as the debate will get bigger. Also, a decision will emerge whether a child’s religion can be changed from Hinduism to Christianity by their parents. A child will give his or her consent after attaining 18 years of age. Shouldn’t Gaurav Gogoi have waited until his children turned 18? The Indian Constitution has not given the right to parents to change the nationality and religion of their children.”
The Chief Minister also posed several questions to the media. “Did Gaurav Gogoi say that he hadn’t gone to Pakistan? Did he state that someone in Pakistan had changed his visa conditions? Did he say that his wife hadn’t received any salary from Pakistan? What portion of my utterances did he term as not true? Did he say that he hadn’t changed the citizenship of his children?”
Also Read: Gaurav Gogoi Slams CM: No Proof in Baseless Allegations