Gogoi urges MEA to trace two Assam women sent across Bangladesh border

Assam Congress President Gaurav Gogoi has urged the MEA to urgently trace and bring back two women from Assam’s Nagaon district. They were sent across the India-Bangladesh border in June and their whereabouts remain unknown since then.

Assam Congress President and Deputy Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi on Saturday urged the Ministry of External Affairs to urgently intervene to trace and bring back two women from Assam’s Nagaon district who were sent across the India-Bangladesh border in June and whose whereabouts remain unknown.

In a letter to the External Affairs Minister, Gogoi sought intervention in the cases of Musstt. Jahanara Begum of Bagariguri and Musstt. Mumtaz Begum of Dhing Gaon, who were sent across the border in the intervening night of June 13 and June 14 this year.

High Court Intervention

“This is a matter in which your Ministry has already been made a party by the Hon’ble Gauhati High Court. I therefore request your personal intervention to ensure that both women are traced and, if they are indeed in Bangladesh, brought back to India at the earliest,” Gogoi said in his letter. Both women had earlier been declared foreigners by the Foreigners Tribunal at Nagaon in 2019 and challenged the opinions before the Gauhati High Court.

Gogoi said that in April 2026, the High Court set aside the earlier opinions and remanded both matters to the Tribunal for fresh consideration as material evidence had not been properly considered. Pursuant to the High Court's directions, Jahanara Begum appeared before the Tribunal on May 29, while Mumtaz Begum appeared on May 30. Both were taken into custody shortly thereafter, Gogoi said.

Court Finds 'Malice in Law'

He alleged that neither woman was provided an effective opportunity to obtain a fresh Tribunal opinion and challenge it before the High Court. Referring to the Gauhati High Court orders dated September 3, Gogoi said the court had taken serious note of what happened thereafter.

“In the case of Mumtaz Begum, the Court found that the Tribunal office had ‘deliberately and wilfully delayed’ the issuance of the certified copy of its opinion and held that a case of ‘malice in law’ had been made out,” he said. “The Court further held that the State machinery had, in effect, prevented her from exhausting her right to approach the High Court. Similar findings were recorded in the case of Jahanara Begum,” Gogoi added.

He also referred to the expulsion orders issued by the District Commissioner, Nagaon, on June 2, directing the women to remove themselves from India within 24 hours, even though they were already in State custody. “In the case of Mumtaz Begum, the Court described the order as ‘farcical’ and held that it could not reasonably have been complied with in the circumstances,” Gogoi said.

Plea to External Affairs Ministry

According to the Congress MP, both women were subsequently handed over to the Border Security Force and sent across the border through Gate No. 2 near Border Pillar No. 1339/MP in the intervening night of June 13 and 14.

Gogoi said the Gauhati High Court has already directed that the Ministry of External Affairs be impleaded so that appropriate steps may be taken to locate the women in Bangladesh and bring them back to India, thereby allowing them to pursue their legal remedies.

In view of the matter, Gogoi requested the Ministry to immediately take up the issue with the Government of Bangladesh and seek assistance in tracing both women. He also urged the Ministry to direct the High Commission of India in Dhaka and the Assistant High Commission of India in Sylhet to actively pursue the matter with the relevant Bangladeshi authorities.

Further, he sought appropriate consular assistance and travel documentation for their return to India, subject to necessary formalities, and requested that the families of both women be kept informed through an appropriate point of contact about the progress of efforts to trace them. “Two families in Nagaon have been searching for their daughter, mother and wife for months; these two women should not simply disappear after being taken into State custody and sent across an international border,” Gogoi said. (ANI)

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