‘Inciting genocide against Muslims’: Gaurav Gogoi targets Assam CM, seeks suo motu police action

Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi, on February 9, accused Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of “inciting genocide” against Muslims and urged the police to take suo motu cognisance of the matter.

Addressing a press conference, Gogoi referred to a video that was briefly shared on X by the state BJP and later deleted. The clip showed Sarma purportedly aiming a rifle and firing at two individuals—one wearing a skull cap and the other with a beard—with the caption “point-blank shot”.

“The Assam CM is inciting genocide against Muslims through his videos,” Gogoi said. “Police must take suo motu cognisance of Sarma targeting a particular community, and sharing vicious social media videos.”

The remarks came amid an ongoing war of words between the Congress MP and the chief minister, who has repeatedly alleged that Gogoi and his family have links with Pakistan. Gogoi rejected the claims and said he was considering legal options after his minor children were dragged into the controversy.

Clarifying the allegations, Gogoi said his wife had travelled to Pakistan for work in 2013 and that he accompanied her on a 10-day visit in December that year. He also questioned the conduct of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the matter.

“The SIT never questioned me about my 2013 visit to Pakistan for 10 days,” Gogoi said. “The Assam CM sat over the SIT report for six months, as it has nothing to prove his allegations of my Pakistan links.”

Gogoi maintained that the issue at hand was not personal attacks but the responsibility of a constitutional authority and the need for law enforcement to act when content, even symbolically, targets a particular community.