New Delhi: A massive controversy erupted on Wednesday after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Gaurav Bhatia alleged that Elizabeth Colebourn, wife of Congress Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi was an agent of Pakistan spy agency ISI. Bhatia also claimed that Colebourn came in touch with the Pakistani spy agency while working with the Climate and Knowledge Development Network (CDKN) in Islamabad.
Bhatia’s remarks were rebutted by the Jorhat MP and deputy opposition leader in the Lok Sabha as “laughable and entertaining”. BJP is resorting to such “baseless allegations” as it has no issue to raise, added Gogoi.
Who is Elizabeth Colebourn?
The whole row has brought limelight over Elizabeth Colebourn. Let’s know some more details about Colebourn. According to Bhatia, Coleburn has ties with ISI as she worked with CDKN in Islamabad under Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, a former advisor to the Planning Commission of Pakistan.
As per media reports, Gogoi and Colebourn met for the first time during an internship together at the Sanctions Committee of the United Nations Secretariat in 2010. Gogoi married Colebourn in 2013 in New. The couple has two children, a son and a daughter.
Colebourn, a London School of Economics graduate, now works for Oxford Policy Management, which deals with climate issues. Reports say that she worked with CDKN from March 2011 to January 2015. Her job profile included coordination the with country programmes in India and Nepal, but she was posted in Pakistan for most of her tenure.
Colebourn is also said to have worked with US Senator Tom Udall, who is believed to have a close relationship with George Soros.
What Himanta Biswa Sarma said against Gaurav Gogoi?
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma also jumped into the row by alleging that in 2015 Gogogi was invited by the then Pakistani High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit to discuss India-Pakistan relations at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. Sarma further said that Gogi did not take permission from the MEA before attending the event, not did he appear for debriefing which is mandatory in such case.
