Jahanara Rob was a veteran politician, women's rights activist, and a lawmaker. She was born in 1930 to an aristocratic Bengali Muslim family at Basantapur in the district of Faridpur. Her father, Abdul Gani Mia, was a landlord and philanthropist.

Jahanara Rob was a Member of Parliament from Pabna and Bogura from 1973 to 1975 (until Bangabandhu and his family killed). She was involved in various social and political activities. After the Liberation of Bangladesh, she became the Chairman of the Nari Punorbashon Shangstha in 1972. She was the wife of the late Abdur Rob alias Boga Mia who was a Freedom Fighter, Liberation War organiser, socio-political activist and an Ex-Member of the Constituent Assembly (MCA) of Pabna.

Begum Jahanara Rob did plenty of relief work in different periods. After the partition of 1947, a series of riots broke out in Pabna. During that time, minority families (especially Hindus) took shelter in their house. She always took extra care of them. Also when she lived in Kolkata, she extended her helping hands for the deprived community.

She passed away on September 29 in 2014 in Dhaka.