Rashed Khan Menon

Rashed Khan Menon

Rashed Khan Menon (Bengali: রাশেদ খান মেনন; born 18 May 1943[1]) is a Bangladeshi politician. He is the chairman of Workers Party of Bangladesh and a member of Jatiyo Sangsad, the parliament of Bangladesh.[2] Menon is the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Ministry of Education.[3] Rashed Khan Menon is also currently serving as the Minister for Civil Aviation And Tourism.

Early activism

Menon was born in Faridpur. Menon studied at Dhaka Collegiate School, finish in 1958. In 1960 he passed intermediate in arts group from Dhaka College. He graduated from Dhaka University in 1963 with a degree in Economics. In 1964 he achieved his master's degree.[1]

In the late 1960s, Menon the president of the East Pakistan Students Union faction linked to the National Awami Party of Maulana Bhasani. However, Menon differed with Maulana Bhasani when the latter accepted participation in elections in January 1970. Menon's East Pakistan Student Union launched a campaign against elections, stating that they would be merely a facade of democracy, that fair elections could not be held under martial law and that the situation was ripe for revolution.[4] Menon built a revolutionary Maoist organisation along with Kazi Zafar Ahmed. The Menon-Zafar group built a base in Khulna (in Begerhat), amongst workers near Dacca and had a student group named Revolutionary Students Union.[5]

Menon contested the 1973 Bangladeshi parliamentary election as a NAP(Bhasani) candidate. He did not win any seat, and afterward he complained that the Awami League government had used unfair methods to win the election.[6]

Later political career

Rashid Khan Menon at an opposition rally in Dhaka, 2005

Menon was elected to parliament in 1979. In 1990, he played a leading role in the mass struggle that toppled the Hossain Mohammad Ershad regime. In 1991 he was again elected to parliament.[1] In 1991 Menon, then a Workers Party of Bangladesh parliamentarian, submitted four demands for constitutional amendments in the parliament. These demands and others were submitted to a 15-member constitutional review committee, in which Menon was included. After 29 meetings, the committee submitted a unanimous report to the parliament.[7]

On August 17, 1992 Menon survived a violent near-fatal attack. Unidentified assailants opened fire on the Workers Party office, injuring Menon.[8]

Family

Menon's father, Abdul Jabbar Khan, hailed from Khudrakathi village, in Babuganj Upazila, Barisal.[1] Menon is closely related to several prominent Bangladeshi personalities. His father was the speaker of the Pakistani National Assembly. His siblings include journalist and Columnist Sadek Khan,poet Abu Zafar Obaidullah, former minister Selima Rahman, journalist and ambassador to Burma A.Z.M. Enayetullah Khan and the publisher of New Age Shahidullah Khan Badal.[9]

Menon is married to Lutfunnesa Khan Beauty.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Rashed Khan Menon steps into 65
  2. ↑ http://www.thebangladeshtoday.com/archive/November%2009/5-11-2009.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=96535
  4. ↑ Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh, pp. 19, 22, 42, 44, 168
  5. ↑ Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh, pp. 48-49
  6. ↑ Jahan, Rounaq. Bangladesh in 1973: Management of Factional Politics, in Asian Survey, Vol. 14, No. 2, A Survey of Asia in 1973: Part II (Feb., 1974), pp. 125-135
  7. ↑ Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh, p. 52
  8. ↑ http://www.bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidRecord=3631
  9. ↑ Halim, Anwar Parvez (19 March 2009). "All in the family". Probe News Magazine. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010.
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