Gaurav Gogoi urges Jaishankar to trace women pushed back to Bangladesh

Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi has written to Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, requesting urgent intervention to locate and repatriate two women allegedly pushed back across the India-Bangladesh border in mid-June 2026.

The women, identified as Jahanara Begum and Mumtaz Begum from Nagaon district, were reportedly sent across the border on the night of June 13/14. Gogoi claims the pushback violated due legal process and that the women's whereabouts have remained unknown since their disappearance from state custody.

The case involves a prior ruling by a Foreigners Tribunal in 2019, which was later set aside by the Gauhati High Court in April 2026 due to insufficient examination of evidence. Following the court's directions, the women appeared before the tribunal in late May but were subsequently taken into custody. The Gauhati High Court has already made the Ministry of External Affairs a party to the legal proceedings.

Gogoi has urged the Ministry to coordinate with the Government of Bangladesh, utilize the Indian High Commission in Dhaka and the Assistant High Commission in Sylhet, and facilitate the necessary consular assistance and documentation for the women's return.