ZI Khan Panna is a Bangladeshi lawyer and human rights activist. He is the chairman 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 organisation in Bangladesh. Panna is a Trustee of the

Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust The Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust () is one of the largest legal aid organization in Bangladesh. The trust provides legal aid, a mediation center, legal advocacy, and files public interest legislation. The organization's headquarter is ...

. He is the chairman of the legal aid committee of

Bangladesh Bar Council Bangladesh Bar Council is a statutory autonomous body in Bangladesh, established under the Legal Practitioners and the Bar Council Order. It is the licensing and regulatory body for lawyers in Bangladesh. The bar council can establish tribunals ...

Career

In 2005, Panna filed a petition on behalf of the Bangladesh Bar Council asking the government to explain its failure to arrest those involved in bombing a court on 17 August. Panna challenged the indemnity ordinance for security officers involved in Operation Clean Heart in 2012 leading it to be revoked by Bangladesh High Court. In November 2014, he served legal notices to three ministers, Mosharraf Hossain, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, and Zahid Maleque, to resign as they were holding for profit offices while serving as ministers violating the constitution of Bangladesh. In 2015, he questioned the state of democracy in Bangladesh. In March 2018, Panna was attacked on the University of Dhaka campus by unknown individuals. In 2020, he filed a petition seeking a ban on the sale of weapons from

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 ...

. He called for investigation of attacks on religious minorities in Bangladesh. Panna has spoken against the

Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman The first president of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and most of his family were killed during the early hours of 15 August 1975 by a group of young Bangladesh Army personnel who invaded his Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, Dhanmondi 32 resi ...

and passage of the

Indemnity Ordinance, 1975 The Indemnity Ordinance, 1975 was a controversial law enacted by the martial law regime of Bangladesh on 26 September 1975. It provided legal immunity to all persons involved in the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was killed with most ...

to protect the assassins. In November 2021, Panna criticized the verdict in the rain tree rape case against the son of the owner of

Apan Jewellers Apan Jewellers is a chain of gold and diamond jewelry stores based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the largest jewelry retailer in Bangladesh. History Apan Jewellers has seven branches located in Dhaka including Gulshan Thana, Uttara Thana, and Dhanmon ...

and said it was wrong for the judge to ask the police to not accept rape complaints 72 hours after the incident. In 2022, Panna represented a Canadian citizen who was forcefully confined by her parents in their Dhaka residence. Panna filed a petition at the Bangladesh High Court seeking an end to sexual harassment at educational institutions in Bangladesh in January 2023 representing the Ain O Salish Kendra. He has spoken against emerging conflicts between judges and

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

backed district bar association leaders and court officers. According to him this conflict is harming the justice system. He represented

Pori Moni Shamsunnahar Smrity (born 24 October 1992), known by her stage name Pori Moni, is a Bangladeshi film actress. Her notable works includes ''Aro Bhalobashbo Tomay'', ''Rokto'', and '' Swapnajaal''. She was listed in Forbes Asia’s "100 Digital St ...

in a narcotics case.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panna, ZI Khan Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Human rights activists Bangladeshi lawyers Bangladeshi activists