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Rashed Khan Menon

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Rashed Khan Menon
রাশেদ খান মেনন
Menon in 2017
Member of Bangladesh Parliament
In office
30 January 2024 – 6 August 2024
Preceded byShah-e-Alam
ConstituencyBarisal-2
In office
25 January 2009 – 29 January 2024
Preceded byNasiruddin Ahmed Pintu
Succeeded byAFM Bahauddin Nasim
ConstituencyDhaka-8
In office
5 March 1991 – 24 November 1995
Preceded bySyed Azizul Haque
Succeeded byGolam Faruque Ovi
ConstituencyBarisal-2
In office
2 April 1979 – 24 March 1982[1]
ConstituencyBakerganj-9 (now defunct)
Minister of Social Welfare
In office
3 January 2018 – 7 January 2019
Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina
Preceded byGeetiara Safya Chowdhury
Succeeded byNuruzzaman Ahmed
Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism
In office
14 January 2014 – 3 January 2018
Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina
Preceded byFaruk Khan
Succeeded byA.K.M. Shahjahan Kamal[2]
Personal details
Born (1943-05-18) 18 May 1943 (age 81)
Faridpur, Bengal Presidency, British India
NationalityBangladeshi
Political partyWorkers Party of Bangladesh
SpouseLutfun Nessa Khan
Parent
Relatives
Alma materDhaka College University of Dhaka
OccupationPolitician

Rashed Khan Menon (born 18 May 1943)[3] is a Bangladeshi politician. He is the president of Workers Party of Bangladesh and a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Barisal-2, Dhaka-8 and Bakerganj-9 constituencies. He was the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Ministry of Education.[4][5] Earlier, he served as the Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism.[6]

Early life

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Menon was born in Faridpur. He 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 received his master's degree.[3]

In the late 1960s, Menon was president of the East Pakistan Students Union faction linked to the National Awami Party of Maulana Bhasani. However, he 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.[7] He 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.[8]

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.[9]

Career

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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.[3] In 1991, he, as 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 he was included. After 29 meetings, the committee submitted a unanimous report to the parliament.[10]

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

Bangladesh Workers’ Party of Menon joined the 14-party alliance led by Awami League and participated in the 2008 national election. They also participated in the 2014 national election which was boycotted by the main opposition party BNP. Menon was appointed as the minister of civil aviation and tourism. Menon, once rose a strong voice against authoritarian West Pakistani regime.

On 22 August 2024, after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina, Menon was arrested from Gulshan area in Dhaka.[11] While attending a hearings both Menon and Hasanul Haq Inu were assaulted by lawyers at the court premises.[12]

After the investigation, the anti-corruption commission of Bangladesh found that Menon had accumulated 25000 crore BDT (2.5 Billion USD) worth of wealth through corruption.[1]

Family

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Menon's father, Abdul Jabbar Khan, hailed from Khudrakathi village, in Babuganj Upazila, Barisal.[3] 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, architect Sultan M. Khan, Alan Khan, a photographer in Sydney, 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.[13]

Menon is married to Lutfun Nessa Khan.[3] She is elected as a Jatiya Sangsad member at the 11th Parliament from the reserved women's seat-48 representing the Workers Party of Bangladesh.[14][15]

References

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  1. ^ "List of 2nd Parliament Members". Bangladesh Parliament. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Menon being replaced by Kamal at cabinet". The Daily Star. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Rashed Khan Menon steps into 65". New Age. Dhaka. Archived from the original on 27 January 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  4. ^ "Menon for edn system without discrimination". The Daily Star. BSS. 11 July 2009.
  5. ^ "Council of Ministers: Surprises in reshuffle". The Daily Star. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Hawkers greet Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon". Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha. 13 January 2014. Archived from the original on 29 December 2017.
  7. ^ Singh, Nagendra Kr. (2003). Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh (Set of 30 Vols.). Anmol Publications Pvt. Limited. pp. 19, 22, 42, 44, 168. ISBN 978-81-261-1390-3.
  8. ^ Singh, Nagendra Kr. (2003). Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh (Set of 30 Vols.). Anmol Publications Pvt. Limited. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-81-261-1390-3.
  9. ^ Jahan, Rounaq (February 1974). "Bangladesh in 1973: Management of Factional Politics". Asian Survey. 14 (2). University of California Press: 125–135. doi:10.2307/2643085. JSTOR 2643085.
  10. ^ Singh, Nagendra Kr. (2003). Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh (Set of 30 Vols.). Anmol Publications Pvt. Limited. p. 52. ISBN 978-81-261-1390-3.
  11. ^ "Rashed Khan Menon arrested from Gulshan". Prothomalo. 22 August 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Court security under scrutiny as Inu, Menon assaulted despite heavy police presence". Dhaka Tribune. 28 August 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  13. ^ Halim, Anwar Parvez (19 March 2009). "All in the family". Probe News Magazine. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010.
  14. ^ সংরক্ষিত নারী আসনে ৪৯ জন বিনা প্রতিদ্বন্দ্বিতায় নির্বাচিত. Samakal (in Bengali). Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  15. ^ "Constituency 348_11th_En". Bangladesh Parliament. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
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