Hameeda Hossain (; 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, a legal aid and human rights organization. In 1969, in the then

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

, along with economist

Rehman Sobhan Rehman Sobhan (; born 12 March 1935) is a Bangladeshi economist. Regarded as one of the country's top public thinkers, he is the founder and the current chairman of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), an organisation active in open public di ...

she founded English-language monthly current affairs magazine,

Forum Forum or The Forum 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 forum, discussion board ...

. 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 on December 28, 1936 to a

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

family of Akhands in

Hyderabad, Sindh Hyderabad, also known as Neroonkot, is the capital and largest city of the Hyderabad Division in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Sindh by population, second-largest city in Sindh, after Karachi, and the List of citie ...

(present-day

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

). Her father, Abdullah Shafi Muhammad Akhand was a judge posted to various cities in the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. Her mother was raised in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and returned to Bengal aged sixteen where she got married. Hameeda was the youngest of three girls and three boys. The children lived with their mother in Karachi. She attended a convent school in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

. She graduated from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

in the US and earned a PhD from

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

Personal life

Hossain is married to

Kamal Hossain Kamal Hossain (born 20 April 1937), better known as Dr. Kamal, 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 subc ...

since 1964. Kamal has been the president of the

Gano Forum Gano Forum (; GF) 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 constitutional lawyer and international jurist Dr. Kamal Hossain serves as President E ...

political party in Bangladesh since he founded it in 1992. They have two daughters, including Dina Hossain, a film maker, and

Sara Hossain Sara Hossain is a Bangladeshi lawyer. She is a barrister in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. She is the honorary executive director of the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), a major legal aid provider. She has been at the forefront o ...

, 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 Wellesley College alumni Bangladeshi feminist writers Bangladeshi feminists Proponents of Islamic feminism Bangladeshi women's rights activists Alumni of the University of Oxford 20th-century Bangladeshi lawyers 21st-century Bangladeshi lawyers Bangladeshi people of Pakistani descent 20th-century Bangladeshi women lawyers 21st-century women lawyers Date of birth missing (living people)