'Takshashila' Twist: Gogoi’s Pakistan Trip Back in Spotlight After 13 Years

Guwahati: The political controversy surrounding Congress MP and Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief Gaurav Gogoi’s 2013 Pakistan visit has escalated into a high-voltage national debate after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma raised a series of allegations on Sunday, followed by Gogoi’s rebuttal on Monday, and a fresh attack by CM Sarma on social media later the same day.

Earlier on Sunday, CM Sarma alleged that Gogoi travelled to Pakistan in December 2013 after receiving a visa on December 12 for Lahore, but that the visa was amended on December 14 to include Islamabad and Karachi, allegedly through special facilitation by Pakistan’s Interior Ministry. He questioned why such a rapid expansion of travel permissions was granted to an Indian national, when visas are typically restricted to specific cities.

CM Sarma also claimed that Gogoi stayed in Pakistan from December 14 to December 24, 2013, entering via the Attari–Wagah land border, and questioned the stated purpose of the visit. He alleged that Gogoi claimed to have travelled to meet his wife, Elizabeth Colebourn, but that she had left her job at LEAD Pakistan in March 2012, nearly 21 months before the trip.

He further alleged that the visit was conducted in a purely personal capacity and remained concealed from public scrutiny, pointing to what he described as complete digital silence during the period.

The controversy escalated after Gogoi acknowledged during a press interaction that he had visited Takshashila (Taxila) during the trip, prompting the Chief Minister to seize the moment and launch a fresh attack on the Congress MP. CM Sarma pointed out on his 'X' handle that Taxila is situated in Rawalpindi District in Punjab, outside the Islamabad Capital Territory and within a highly sensitive military zone that houses Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters.

“In today’s press conference, Gaurav Gogoi made a disclosure that even I was not previously aware of. Takshashila is not located in Islamabad, but in Rawalpindi District,” CM Sarma wrote.

He questioned how Gogoi could have travelled to the site, stating,

“If his Pakistan visa explicitly permitted travel only to Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, how did he visit Takshashila, which lies outside the Islamabad Capital Territory and squarely within Rawalpindi District?”

CM Sarma further argued that Pakistan’s immigration framework does not allow travel beyond visa-designated cities without explicit authorisation, asking, “So the question is simple, factual, and legitimate: who facilitated his movement to Takshashila despite the apparent absence of visa clearance for Rawalpindi District?”

Highlighting the sensitivity of the region, CM Sarma stressed that Rawalpindi hosts Pakistan Army’s GHQ, describing it as a strategically critical area and questioning how Gogoi gained access to such a location.

The Chief Minister on Sunday also raised a series of additional allegations, questioning whether Gogoi met Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh during the visit, whether the trip had any linkage with his subsequent parliamentary questions on nuclear plants, border security and defence-related matters, and whether there was any nexus between Gogoi’s climate change-related parliamentary interventions and his wife’s professional engagements. He further flagged concerns related to citizenship and passport disclosures within the family, although no documentary evidence was made public to substantiate these claims.

On Monday, Gaurav Gogoi responded in a press conference, seeking to counter the allegations and defend his travel. He said his wife had worked for a climate change programme funded by the British and Dutch governments and active across South America, Africa and Asia, which required her to travel between Pakistan and India.

“The funding was done by a British government and Netherlands government, and the programme was running in South America, African nations and Asian nations. She had to travel to Pakistan and then to India. I being the husband had to travel with her. How can I let her go alone,” Gogoi said.

He added that they visited places where she had previously stayed before their marriage, the places where she used to eat and shop, and during the trip they also visited Taxila because of its historical significance in the context of greater Bharat. He said he travelled to Lahore and then to Taxila, while she was working in Islamabad.

Gogoi said that travellers are required to apply for permission and inform embassy about the cities they intend to visit, maintaining that he had followed all procedures. He added that after becoming a Member of Parliament, he submitted his passport to the Government of India, received a new diplomatic passport, and that no questions had been raised about the matter until now. He questioned why the issue was being flagged by the Chief Minister more than a decade after the visit, stating that the travel took place in 2013–14.

He further said that the Assam government’s Special Investigation Team had not raised any questions about his 10-day visit to Pakistan, and asserted that he was ready to respond to any queries raised by the chief minister.

The sequence of events has left multiple unanswered questions at the centre of political and public scrutiny. The unusually rapid amendment of Gogoi’s visa by Pakistan’s Interior Ministry, his travel to Rawalpindi without publicly documented clearance, the mismatch between his visit and his wife’s employment timeline, and the absence of publicly disclosed documentation on the purpose of the 10-day trip have fuelled speculation. CM Sarma has also alleged that Gogoi previously gave incorrect statements about the timing of his wife’s employment, adding to suspicions about whether the visit’s purpose was misrepresented.

It is to be noted that the issue has now assumed a national security and transparency dimension, with the ruling BJP portraying the episode as a question of accountability and possible foreign linkages, while the Congress has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated and an attempt to discredit an opposition leader.

As of now, no official visa records, immigration clearance documents, or independent confirmations have been placed in the public domain to conclusively verify or refute the competing claims. The combination of sensitive geography, rapid visa modifications, conflicting timelines, and continued political escalation has kept the controversy alive, with demands growing for documentary disclosures and institutional clarification.

With Sarma continuing to escalate his attacks and Gogoi standing by his explanation, the decade-old Pakistan visit has now become a major national political flashpoint, with potential implications for parliamentary politics and national security discourse.

Meanwhile, the Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi accused Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of crossing all limits by publicly referring to details about his minor children while alleging links with Pakistan, calling it an unacceptable personal attack.

“I warn the Chief Minister not to provoke me into disclosing details about his own children,” Gogoi said during a press conference, issuing a sharp political rebuttal.

He said that details about his two minor children shared by the Chief Minister should never have been made public, stressing that such disclosures violate privacy norms and statutory protections. Gogoi said the issue would be taken up with the party high command and the Congress legal cell in Delhi, citing provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, including Section 74, as highlighted by MP Rakibul Hussain during the same press conference earlier in the day.

“Attack me if needed, but not my family. I am the son of Tarun Gogoi and come from the lineage of Lachit Borphukan,” he said, asserting that he would not tolerate attacks on his family or on Congress members and Assamese citizens.

He also warned that if communal tensions are incited or targeted attacks are carried out through social media platforms, he would take all necessary action and would not spare those responsible.

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