Fact Check: Gaurav Gogi, wife posing at the Attari-Wagah border en route to Pakistan? No, the image is edited
An image of Gaurav Gogoi and his wife, Elizabeth Colburn, has been circulating on social media, falsely claiming that it was taken at the Attari-Wagah border when the couple visited Pakistan.
By Md Mahfooz Alam
Claim:The image shows Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi posing with his wife, Elizabeth Colburn Gogoi, at the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab during a visit to Pakistan.
Fact:False. The image is edited. The original photo was taken outside the Indian Parliament and not at the Attari-Wagah border.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has alleged that Congress MP Gaurav Gogoiās wife, Elizabeth Colburn, had links to Pakistanās ISI, was involved in radicalisation activities, retained UK citizenship after marriage, and received foreign funds, raising national security concerns.
In this context, an image of Gaurav Gogoi with his wife, Elizabeth Colburn, purportedly posing at the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab has been circulating on social media, claiming it was taken when the couple visited Pakistan.
One Facebook user shared the image with the caption, āCan Gaurav Gogoi still hide the information about his visit to Pakistan?ā
Similar posts can be seen [here]and [here].
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the image is edited. The original image shows them posing at the Lok Sabha.
A reverse image search led us to the original photo posted by the official X handle of Assam Congress on October 23, 2024. The background in this image is not the Attari-Wagah border.
We also found the same image published by Prokerala and Social News XYZ in June 2019, stating that Gaurav Gogoi and his wife were photographed outside Parliament in New Delhi on June 17, 2019.
Getty Images and Shutterstock also published similar photos of the couple in the same outfits, captioning them as Gaurav Gogoi and his wife arriving at Parliament during the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha.
Here is a comparison of the original and edited image.
Gogoiās response to the allegations
Gaurav Gogoi has refuted the claims made by the Assam CM, calling them āmalicious and baseless.ā He alleged that these accusations are politically motivated, especially with the 2026 Assam Assembly elections approaching.
In a sarcastic rebuttal, Gogoi said, āIf my wife is an ISI agent of Pakistan, then I am a RAW agent of India.ā
We are not fact-checking the broader allegations and counter-allegations exchanged between the two politicians. However, we found that the image in question is digitally manipulated. It was not taken at the Attari-Wagah border but outside the Indian Parliament.
