Hameeda Hossain (née Akhund; born 1936) is a Bangladeshi human rights activist and academic. She has published many books and articles relating to human rights and women's issues in Bangladesh, in Islam, and worldwide. She is a founding member of

Ain o Salish Kendra The Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) ( bn, আইন ও সালিশ কেন্দ্র (আসক); Centre for Law and Mediation) is a non-government, a national legal aid and human rights organisation in Bangladesh. It is one of the leading h ...

, a legal aid and human rights organization. In 1969, in the then

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

, along with economist

Rehman Sobhan Rehman Sobhan ( bn, রেহমান সোবহান; born 12 March 1935) is a Bangladeshi economist. Regarded as one of the country's top public thinkers, he is the founder of the Centre for Policy Dialogue. Sobhan is an icon of the Bangl ...

she founded English-language monthly current affairs magazine,

Forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

. The magazine became renowned for its outspoken criticism against the West Pakistani establishment, and advocacy of democracy and economic reforms in the Pakistani union. Hossain is a member of the board of directors of the Centre for Secular Space, an international human rights organization that stands for International Defense Against Religious Extremism.

Early life and education

Hameeda was born in Hyderabad, Sindh (now in Pakistan) in 1936, the youngest of three girls and three boys. The children lived with their mother in Karachi while their father, a judge, was posted to various cities. She attended a convent school in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

. She graduated from Wellesley College in the US and earned a PhD from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

Marriage and family

Hossain is married to

Kamal Hossain Kamal Hossain (born 20 April 1937) is a founding leader, lawyer and politician of Bangladesh. He is known as the "father of the Bangladeshi constitution" and regarded as an icon of secular democracy in the Indian subcontinent. Hossain currently ...

, who has been the president of the

Gano Forum Gano Forum ( bn, গণফোরাম), literally ''People's Forum'', is a political party in Bangladesh. GF was formed through a split of the Awami League and the merger of civil society groups in 1992. The party is headed by one of its found ...

political party in Bangladesh since he founded it in 1992. They have two daughters, including Dina Hossain, a film maker, and Sara Hossain, a lawyer and writer who is the co-editor of ''Honor: Crimes, Paradigms and Violence Against Women''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hossain, Hameeda 1936 births Living people Feminist writers Bangladeshi feminists Proponents of Islamic feminism Bangladeshi women's rights activists Wellesley College alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford 20th-century Bangladeshi lawyers 21st-century Bangladeshi lawyers Date of birth missing (living people) Bangladeshi women lawyers Bangladeshi people of Pakistani descent