Guwahati, Jan 18: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday launched a sharp political attack without naming anyone, declaring that “no Assamese will bow before a Pakistani agent,” while addressing the foundation-laying ceremony of the Kaziranga Elevated Corridor.
The remarks were made in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on the dais during the event.
Addressing the gathering, Sarma said Assam would not submit to “unknown people” and asserted that the state had “freed Batadrava Than from encroachers,” framing the comments as part of a broader narrative of protecting Assam’s identity and sovereignty.
Taking an open dig at Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi for opposing the Kaziranga Elevated Corridor project, the chief minister said, “If you want to oppose, carry on. But Assam has dreams to touch the sky, and we will do it.”
The comments come amid an intensifying war of words between the ruling BJP and the Congress ahead of the Assam Assembly elections. Sarma has earlier accused Gogoi—currently the Assam Congress president—and his British wife, Elizabeth Colburn, of alleged links with Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI, and had ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the matter.
The SIT submitted its report to the chief minister on September 10 last year. Sarma has claimed the probe “unearthed startling facts pointing to a larger conspiracy aimed at undermining the sovereignty of the nation,” and said the case would soon be handed over to a central agency.
Gogoi has strongly denied the allegations, dismissing them as a “C-grade Bollywood film” destined to flop, and maintaining that the people of Assam are capable of seeing through what he describes as politically motivated charges.
The confrontation between Sarma and Gogoi is expected to remain a key flashpoint in Assam’s pre-poll discourse.
