NEW DELHI: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s claim that Mumtaz Begum, the 43-year-old woman sent to Bangladesh in June, is safe and in daily touch with her son has left her family with one agonising question: But where is she?Her son Momruz Ali, 26, told TOI on Wednesday that he has had no contact with his mother and received no official communication from authorities about her whereabouts. “The CM (Sarma) says he knows she is safe...but we have no way to find out,” he said, adding, “We are just an ordinary family with little means. How will we ever find her?”Ali’s plea to the Assam and Indian govts is simple: find his mother – “in Assam, India or Bangladesh”. If she is alive, he said, “she has to be on either side”. “It’s the govt’s job. Assam Police must take responsibility for finding her.”The family’s anguish is sharpened by Sarma’s own earlier remarks that people pushed across the border can cross back into India.“The CM, in a press conference, said two years ago that people cross over and return. In that case, they should search in Assam also. Why only Bangladesh?” Ali asked.On Sept 3, Gauhati HC directed MEA to locate Mumtaz in Bangladesh and bring her back to pursue her case before the Foreigners Tribunal. It also ordered Rs 2 lakh interim compensation for her husband, noting she had been expelled without an adult family member being informed.Declared a foreigner in 2019, Mumtaz had got relief from Gauhati HC in April 2026, which set aside the tribunal’s opinion and ordered fresh consideration, citing deficiencies in its assessment of voter-list records and other citizenship documents. She appeared before the tribunal on May 30, was taken into custody and later handed over to BSF before being sent to Bangladesh.TOI exclusively reported on Sept 29 that Bangladesh’s home ministry had begun searching for Mumtaz after the newspaper reached out to authorities in that country.The matter was then referred to relevant departments, but officials had no information on her whereabouts. Searches in Sylhet have produced no breakthrough, with Sylhet Range DIG Mohammad Jahangir Hossain telling TOI he too had no information and was trying to locate her.Sarma’s claim came as the case became a political flashpoint, with Cong’s Gaurav Gogoi writing to external affairs minister S Jaishankar seeking intervention to trace Mumtaz and another Assam woman, Jahanara Begum, and facilitate their return.AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal has also attacked the govt over the case. But for Ali, the concern is no longer the political blame game.“We don’t support any party. We only support the law. We believe in courts,” he said. “If an Indian citizen has been pushed into Bangladesh, India and Bangladesh—if they search in both places—can find her. They took her information. They were the ones who sent her away. Now they are avoiding responsibility.”He said the family had all documents relating to Mumtaz and even her parents that they believe establish her Indian citizenship.The family, he said, has been scattered since her disappearance. His father, around 55, works as a mason when work is available, while Ali farms and does local work, including tending a fish pond.“Without my mother, the house is falling apart,” Ali told TOI, adding, “We don’t need politics. We need to know where our mother is.”
