Syeda Razia Faiz ( bn, সৈয়দা রাজিয়া ফয়েজ; 18 April 1936 – 15 November 2013) was a Bangladeshi politician. She served as a member of the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, Romanization, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower house, lower legislative house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which al ...

in the 1960s. In 1979, she was the first woman to be elected in the history of Bangladesh as a member of the Parliament of Bangladesh, alongside 299 male members (out of 300 elected members of parliament).

Early life and family

Faiz was born on 18 April 1936 into a Bengali Muslim family of Syeds from the village of Talibpur in

Murshidabad Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district. During ...

. Her father, Syed Badrudduja, was a former mayor of

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

and a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly and India's

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

. Through her paternal grandfather Syed Abdul Ghafur, she was a descendant of

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

, the fourth

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. Meanwhile, her sister

Syeda Sakina Islam Syeda Sakina Islam (7 October 1928 – 21 August 2008) served as a Member of Parliament for two times. She was elected as a member of parliament from Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 1979 and on 1986 from Jatiya Party. She was the founding editor ...

, was among the 30 nominated/selected members of the reserved women seats (a quota for the winning party which holds the parliamentary majority) of the same national parliament.

Career

She was elected to Pakistan National Assembly in the 1960s, representing the country on a number of delegations overseas. During the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

she was also part of the Pakistani delegation to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. She was placed under house arrest in Bangladesh after its

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

. In 1979, Faiz was elected from the former constituency of Abdus Sabur Khan to Bangladesh's National Parliament. She was the first female elected member of parliament in Bangladesh. In 1989, she was appointed as the minister for women and social welfare Later, she served as the vice president of Bangladesh Nationalist Party until her death.

Personal life and death

Faiz was married to Mohammad Abul Faiz, the former chairman of

Petrobangla PetroBangla (Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Corporation; bn, পেট্রোবাংলা) is a government-owned national oil company of Bangladesh. It explores, produces, transports, manages and sells oil, natural gas and other mineral reso ...

. They had a daughter, Fawzia Alam, two sons, Osman Ershad Faiz and Aman Ashraf Faiz. She died on 15 November 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faiz, Syeda Razia 1936 births 2013 deaths Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians Women members of the Jatiya Sangsad Women government ministers of Bangladesh 20th-century Bangladeshi women politicians 8th Jatiya Sangsad members 2nd Jatiya Sangsad members Women and Children Affairs ministers of Bangladesh Social Welfare ministers of Bangladesh People from Khulna District Politicians from Khulna Division Pakistani MNAs 1965–1969 21st-century Bangladeshi women politicians Bangladeshi people of Indian descent Bangladeshi people of Arab descent West Bengal politicians 20th-century Bengalis Bengali Muslims People from Murshidabad district