Akhil Gogoi urges Himanta's wife to tell him people want proper inquiry into Zubeen's death

Guwahati, Oct 9 (PTI) Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi on Thursday urged Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's wife to tell her husband "at least once" that people of the state want a proper inquiry into singer Zubeen Garg's death.

In an open letter to Sarma's wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, who has filed a criminal defamation case against him, Gogoi said that the public wants an answer to only two questions – "is Zubeen da's death due to negligence by his friends or is it a murder and even if it was criminal negligence or planned murder, why did they do so?" "The demand of the people of Assam is simple -- they want justice. If it is a murder, the accused should be sentenced to death and if he died due to negligence, they should be given life imprisonment," the Sivasagar MLA said.

Bhuyan Sarma filed the case against Gogoi on Wednesday for alleging that one of her firms had participated in the North East India Festival in Singapore, where singer Zubeen Garg died.

She filed the case against the Independent legislator at the Kamrup Metro Chief Judicial Magistrate's court for making "false and unfounded allegations that the Golden Threads of Assam had participated in a fashion show organised during the festival in Singapore".

Gogoi said that the fight is for "Zubeen da's loss of life and not to defame you but if the state government, led by your husband, and the Centre had shown the same eagerness as you have done in filing a criminal case against me, then the people of Assam would not have been as anguished over his death as they are today".

"The BJP government in the state, led by the chief minister, is prompt in killing people involved in small crimes through false encounters but have adopted a soft stand towards those involved in the death of Assam's cultural icon Zubeen Garg," Gogoi alleged.

Addressing her as 'Respected Bou' (elder brother's wife), the MLA said that her television channel claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi can stop the Russia-Ukraine war over a telephone call.

"He is called the Vishwaguru with Himanta da always chanting his name as a prayer and your family is powerful in the country. Please, ask your husband to tell Modi to urge the Singapore government to cooperate with the investigations by Indian agencies by overcoming all external and diplomatic hurdles," Gogoi said.

Instead of doing this, the authorities are engaged in attacking those who are demanding justice for Zubeen but are being soft on those allegedly involved in his death which indicates "that there is something rotten in the state", he alleged.

"If you are really interested in sending me to Singapore to conduct an investigation, then please tell your husband to send me with the constitutional power of heading an assembly committee so that I can truly go with the powers to investigate his death as there is no point in going as an ordinary citizen," Gogoi said in the letter.

He also asked her not to tempt him with a first-class air ticket or stay in a five-star hotel but "keep these for your friends as I have passed all the tests under the NIA, jails, NSA, sedition cases and I am not afraid of another case against me".

After the case filed against him, Bhuyan Sarma in a Facebook post had said that she is "offering assistance to Akhil Gogoi by providing a first-class ticket to Singapore, accommodation in a five-star hotel, and covering logistical expenses for gathering evidence to support his claims".

Gogoi claimed that he had "suffered extreme torture for the sake of truth and I am prepared to face it again for Zubeen da".

"Going to jail is an ordinary matter for me. You must be aware that I am the person who has gone to jail perhaps for the maximum time and I am not afraid of going once again for the sake of Zubeen da," he said.

Gogoi said that she has filed a defamation case against him but he is neither feeling "bad about it nor is he afraid as I am prepared to face the barrel of the gun for the sake of truth".

He said that he had asked her husband whether she had gone to attend the North East India Festival in Singapore, whether she was associated with a fashion show there or not and whether the event had continued even after Zubeen's death.

"You could have answered these questions but you wanted to make a show of your power and wealth by filing a case against me," he added.

Zubeen Garg, who had also gone to participate in the festival, died in Singapore while swimming in the sea on September 19. PTI DG DG ACD