Gaurav Gogoi accuses Himanta of inciting hatred, seeks police action

Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi on Monday accused chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of “inciting genocide” against Muslims through social media videos and urged the police to take suo motu cognisance of the matter.

Addressing a press conference, Gogoi referred to a now-deleted video that had been shared on X by the state BJP. The clip allegedly showed Sarma taking aim with a rifle and firing a shot at two individuals, one wearing a skull cap and the other sporting a beard, with the caption “point-blank shot”.

“The Assam chief minister is inciting genocide against Muslims through his videos. The police must take suo motu cognisance of Sarma targeting a particular community and circulating such vicious content on social media,” Gogoi said.

The Congress MP’s remarks come amid an ongoing war of words between him and the chief minister. Sarma has repeatedly alleged that Gogoi and members of his family have links with Pakistan, an accusation the Congress leader has strongly denied.

Gogoi said he was also considering legal action after the Chief Minister allegedly dragged his minor children into the political controversy. He maintained that the accusations against him were baseless and politically motivated.

Clarifying his position, Gogoi said his wife had travelled to Pakistan in 2013 for work-related reasons and that he had accompanied her on a 10-day visit in December that year. “The Special Investigation Team never questioned me about my 2013 visit to Pakistan. The Assam Chief Minister sat on the SIT report for six months because it has nothing to substantiate his allegations about my so-called Pakistan links,” he claimed.

The controversy has further sharpened political tensions in Assam, with the Congress accusing the Chief Minister of communal provocation and misuse of authority, while the BJP continues to target Gogoi over alleged foreign connections.

With PTI input