Rashed Khan Menon (born 18 May 1943)
is a Bangladeshi politician. He is the president of
Workers Party of Bangladesh
The Workers Party of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের ওয়ার্কার্স পার্টি) is a communist party in Bangladesh. Rashed Khan Menon is the president of the Workers Party of Bangladesh and Anisur Rahm ...
and was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for
Dhaka-8 in the
2008 general election. Menon was re-elected at the
2014 general elections. He is the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Ministry of Education. Earlier, he served as the
Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism.
Early life
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.
In the late 1960s, Menon was president of the
East Pakistan Students Union faction linked to the
National Awami Party
The National Awami Party (NAP), translated from Urdu to English as National People's Party, was the major left-wing political party in East and West Pakistan. It was founded in 1957 in Dhaka, erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), by ...
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
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Marti ...
and that the situation was ripe for revolution. He built a revolutionary
Maoist
Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
organisation along with
Kazi Zafar Ahmed
Kazi Zafar Ahmad (; 1 July 193927 August 2015) was a Bangladeshi politician of the Jatiya Party, who was the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1989 to 1990.
Early life
Ahmed was born in 1939, in village: Kazi Bari Cheora Chauddagram Upazila, Co ...
. The Menon-Zafar group built a base in
Khulna
Khulna ( bn, খুলনা, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of Khulna District and Khulna Division. Khulna's economy is the third-largest in Bangladesh, contributing $53 b ...
(in Begerhat), amongst workers near
Dacca
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
and had a student group named Revolutionary Students Union.
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 In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for ''Awam
Awam ( ur, ) is the Urdu language word for common people or general public. In the early 20th century, the word was extensively used in the Indian subcontinent to refer to the general po ...
government had used unfair methods to win the election.
Career
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.
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.
On 17 August 1992, Menon survived a violent near-fatal attack. Unidentified assailants opened fire on the Workers Party office, injuring Menon.
Family
Menon's father,
Abdul Jabbar Khan, hailed from Khudrakathi village, in
Babuganj Upazila
Babuganj ( bn, বাবুগঞ্জ) is an administrative unit of Barisal District in the Division of Barisal, Bangladesh.
Geography
Babuganj is located at . It has a total area of 164.88 km2.
Demographics
According to the 2011 Bangl ...
,
Barisal
Barisal ( or ; bn, বরিশাল, ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal Di ...
.
Menon is closely related to several prominent Bangladeshi personalities. His father was the speaker of the
Pakistani National Assembly
The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower legislative house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which also comprises the Senate of Pakistan ( ...
. 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
A.Z.M. Enayetullah Khan (25 May 1939 – 10 November 2005) was a Bangladeshi journalist and government minister. He founded the weekly newspaper '' Holiday'' and the daily newspaper ''New Age''. He served in Ziaur Rahman's Cabinet, first as ...
and the publisher of ''
New Age
New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...
'' Shahidullah Khan Badal.
Menon is married to
Lutfun Nessa Khan
Lutfun Nesa Khan is a Workers Party of Bangladesh
The Workers Party of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের ওয়ার্কার্স পার্টি) is a communist party in Bangladesh. Rashed Khan Menon is the preside ...
.
She is elected as a
Jatiya Sangsad
The Jatiya Sangsad ( bn, জাতীয় সংসদ, lit=National Parliament, translit=Jatiyô Sôngsôd), often referred to simply as the ''Sangsad'' or JS and also known as the House of the Nation, is the supreme legislative body of ...
member at the
11th Parliament from the
reserved women's seat-48 representing the
Workers Party of Bangladesh
The Workers Party of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের ওয়ার্কার্স পার্টি) is a communist party in Bangladesh. Rashed Khan Menon is the president of the Workers Party of Bangladesh and Anisur Rahm ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menon, Rashed Khan
1943 births
Living people
Dhaka College alumni
Bangladeshi communists
Workers Party of Bangladesh politicians
Civil Aviation and Tourism ministers of Bangladesh
Social Welfare ministers of Bangladesh
2nd Jatiya Sangsad members
5th Jatiya Sangsad members
9th Jatiya Sangsad members
10th Jatiya Sangsad members
11th Jatiya Sangsad members