Sahara Khatun
Encyclopedia
Advocate Sahara Khatun MP (alternate spelling "Khatoon") is a Bangladesh
i politician and the current Home Minister in the Government of Bangladesh, and the first woman to hold this position. Khatun is a member of Parliament, and the former law secretary of the Awami League.
on March 01, 1943, to Abdul Aziz and Turjan Nesa. She completed BA
and LLB degrees. She is the founding president of Bangladesh Awami Ainjibi Parishad and General Secretary
of Bangladesh Mahila Samity, as well as a member of the International Women Lawyers' Association and the International Women's Alliance. She started her career as a lawyer
, and rose to fight cases at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh
.
as well as Home Affairs Minister
of the Bangladesh
.
as an Awami League candidate, and was defeated by Khaleda Zia
of BNP
, who then went on to become the Prime Minister of Bangladesh
.
Sheikh Hasina
. Khatun was one of the forerunners to induce a legal as well as a political battle in Hasina's favour. Khatun herself was charged with politically motivated crimes during the Caretaker Government's regime.
With the exposure received in the run-up for the Bangladesh general election, 2008, she was pitched as an Awami League candidate from the Dhaka-18
constituency. Sahara pledged to the people in her constituency that she would reconstruct the roads and improve the drainage system in the area. She eventually won the election, and was then named the Minister of Home Affairs of the Government of Bangladesh. She took office on January 6, 2009.
, the paramilitary force in charge of the borders. She went inside the campus of Bangladesh Rifles
to stimulate negotiation and to ask the mutineers to put their arms down.
The mutiny resulted in the death of 53 top officials of the army, and 3 family members.
Since Bangladesh Rifles
falls under the jurisdiction of the Home Ministry, Sahara Khatun is largely blamed for the deaths by many civilians. Some even set up a conspiracy theory that the government was behind the massacre.
However, officially Sahara Khatun is applauded for her efforts in construing a negotiation, and being able to save about 40 officers who were still held hostage when the mutineers surrendered.
Moreover, her Ministry came under scrutiny when the arrested mutineers kept having mysterious deaths while under custody before trials.
and Rapid Action Battalion
. According to Bangladeshi human rights group Odhikar, 127 citizens experienced extrajudicial killings in 2010 alone.
Awami League in 2008 had promised in its election manifesto that it would stop all extrajudicial killings if brought to power, and Human Rights Watch
observed that Awami League had failed in its promise.
Khatun in 2011 commented that there were no extrajudicial killings done during her tenure as Minister, which was a stark contrast to various human rights reports.
-minorities to cut their religious festival Janmastami short, so that it wouldn't clash with the Muslim
-majority observances of Ramadan
, as they coincided during the same time period. She urged the Hindu
community not to make loud noises during sunset, when Muslims would be having iftar
.
Her comments were considered discriminatory, since a limitation on minority celebrations were being imposed for the first time; Hindu festivals had previously coincided with Ramadan
in Bangladesh
.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
i politician and the current Home Minister in the Government of Bangladesh, and the first woman to hold this position. Khatun is a member of Parliament, and the former law secretary of the Awami League.
Early life
Sahara Khatun was born in Kurmitola in DhakaDhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
on March 01, 1943, to Abdul Aziz and Turjan Nesa. She completed BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
and LLB degrees. She is the founding president of Bangladesh Awami Ainjibi Parishad and General Secretary
General Secretary
The office of general secretary is staffed by the chief officer of:*The General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace, a government agency for the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace...
of Bangladesh Mahila Samity, as well as a member of the International Women Lawyers' Association and the International Women's Alliance. She started her career as a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, and rose to fight cases at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Supreme Court of Bangladesh
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh is the highest court of law in Bangladesh. It is composed of the High Court Division and the Appellate division, and was created by Part VI Chapter I of the Constitution of Bangladesh adopted in 1972. This is also the office of the Chief Justice, Appellate Division...
.
Political career
Sahara Khatun has been involved in politics since her student life. She is currently a parliament memberJatiyo Sangshad
Jatiya Sangsad or National Assembly is the national parliament of Bangladesh. The current parliament of Bangladesh contains 345 seats including 45 women reserved seats distributed on elected party position in the parliament, the occupants of which are called Members of Parliament or MPs...
as well as Home Affairs Minister
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
of the Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
.
General Elections, 1991
She entered the national political scene in 1991 when she contested in the 5th Parliamentary electionsBangladeshi general election, 1991
The Fifth National Parliamentary Elections 1991 were held in Bangladesh on 27 February 1991. The result was a victory for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which won 140 of the 300 seats. Voter turnout was 55.4%.-Results:...
as an Awami League candidate, and was defeated by Khaleda Zia
Khaleda Zia
Begum Khaleda Zia is the former First Lady of Bangladesh , and then Prime Minister of Bangladesh, having served from 1991 to 1996, becoming the first woman in the country's history and second in the Muslim world to head a democratic government as prime minister. She served again from 2001 until...
of BNP
BNP
-Politics:*Bahujana Nidahas Peramuna, a Sri Lankan political party*Balochistan National Party, a Pakistani political party*Bangladesh Nationalist Party, a Bangladeshi political party*Barbados National Party, a defunct political party in Barbados...
, who then went on to become the Prime Minister of Bangladesh
Prime Minister of Bangladesh
The Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is the Head of the Government of Bangladesh. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Jatiya Sangsad Parliament, to their political party and ultimately to the electorate...
.
General Elections, 2008
She came in the scene again upon the arrest of current Prime MinisterPrime Minister of Bangladesh
The Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is the Head of the Government of Bangladesh. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Jatiya Sangsad Parliament, to their political party and ultimately to the electorate...
Sheikh Hasina
Sheikh Hasina
Sheikh Hasina is a Bangladeshi politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Awami League, a major political party, since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh and widow of a reputed nuclear...
. Khatun was one of the forerunners to induce a legal as well as a political battle in Hasina's favour. Khatun herself was charged with politically motivated crimes during the Caretaker Government's regime.
With the exposure received in the run-up for the Bangladesh general election, 2008, she was pitched as an Awami League candidate from the Dhaka-18
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
constituency. Sahara pledged to the people in her constituency that she would reconstruct the roads and improve the drainage system in the area. She eventually won the election, and was then named the Minister of Home Affairs of the Government of Bangladesh. She took office on January 6, 2009.
Tenure as Minister
Her tenure as minister of home affairs has been marred by the following controversies.BDR mutiny
During the 2009 BDR Mutiny, Khatun led the delegation to negotiate with the mutineers, who were soldiers staging a mutiny against their officers of Bangladesh RiflesBangladesh Rifles
Border Guard Bangladesh is the oldest uniformed force in Bangladesh. It is a paramilitary force under the Ministry of Home Affairs of Bangladesh...
, the paramilitary force in charge of the borders. She went inside the campus of Bangladesh Rifles
Bangladesh Rifles
Border Guard Bangladesh is the oldest uniformed force in Bangladesh. It is a paramilitary force under the Ministry of Home Affairs of Bangladesh...
to stimulate negotiation and to ask the mutineers to put their arms down.
The mutiny resulted in the death of 53 top officials of the army, and 3 family members.
Since Bangladesh Rifles
Bangladesh Rifles
Border Guard Bangladesh is the oldest uniformed force in Bangladesh. It is a paramilitary force under the Ministry of Home Affairs of Bangladesh...
falls under the jurisdiction of the Home Ministry, Sahara Khatun is largely blamed for the deaths by many civilians. Some even set up a conspiracy theory that the government was behind the massacre.
However, officially Sahara Khatun is applauded for her efforts in construing a negotiation, and being able to save about 40 officers who were still held hostage when the mutineers surrendered.
Moreover, her Ministry came under scrutiny when the arrested mutineers kept having mysterious deaths while under custody before trials.
Extrajudicial killing
Minister Khatun has been heavily criticized for the extrajudicial killings done by her forces, namely the Bangladesh PoliceBangladesh Police
The Bangladesh Police is the main law enforcement agency of Bangladesh. It is administered under the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of Bangladesh. It plays a crucial role in maintaining peace and enforcement of law and order within the whole of Bangladesh...
and Rapid Action Battalion
Rapid Action Battalion
Rapid Action Battalion or RAB is an elite anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit of Bangladesh Police constituted amending the Armed Police Battalion Ordinance, 1979. Under the command of Inspector General of Police it consists of members of Bangladesh Police, Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy,...
. According to Bangladeshi human rights group Odhikar, 127 citizens experienced extrajudicial killings in 2010 alone.
Awami League in 2008 had promised in its election manifesto that it would stop all extrajudicial killings if brought to power, and Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
observed that Awami League had failed in its promise.
Khatun in 2011 commented that there were no extrajudicial killings done during her tenure as Minister, which was a stark contrast to various human rights reports.
Comment on Janmastami
Khatun attracted criticism in August 2010 when she asked the HinduHindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
-minorities to cut their religious festival Janmastami short, so that it wouldn't clash with the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
-majority observances of Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
, as they coincided during the same time period. She urged the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
community not to make loud noises during sunset, when Muslims would be having iftar
Iftar
Iftar , refers to the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan. Iftar is one of the religious observances of Ramadan and is often done as a community, with people gathering to break their fast together. Iftar is done right after Maghrib time...
.
Her comments were considered discriminatory, since a limitation on minority celebrations were being imposed for the first time; Hindu festivals had previously coincided with Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
.