Dipu Moni (born 8 December 1965) is a Bangladeshi politician and former minister of social welfare. She was a member of parliament for the Chandpur-3 constituency. She was

minister of education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

in the fourth Hasina ministry and

minister of foreign affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

in the second Hasina ministry. She was appointed as the first female foreign minister of Bangladesh on 6 January 2009, serving until 2013. Currently she is Joint secretary of the

Bangladesh Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

Early life

Dipu Moni was born on 8 December 1965 in the village of Kamranga in Chandpur, Chattogram Division,

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 ...

(now

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

). Her father, Mohammad Abdul Wadud, was a founding member of the

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

and known especially for his role in the Language Movement and as the first Council-elected General Secretary of the East Pakistan Chhatra League. Moni passed HSC from Holy Cross College, Dhaka. Her mother, Begum Rahima, was a teacher. Her brother, Jawadur Rahim Wadud Tipu, is a diabetic foot surgeon. Moni studied

MBBS A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital and LLB at

Bangladesh National University National University (NU; ) is a public collegiate university of Bangladesh that was established in 1992 by an Act of Parliament as an affiliating university of the country to impart graduate and post-graduate level education to students through ...

. She later earned a Master's in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, and

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

as an external student. She completed a course on negotiations and conflict resolutions from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. She is a lawyer of

Bangladesh Supreme Court Supreme Court of Bangladesh () is the highest court of law in the country. It is composed of the High Court Division and the Appellate Division, and was established by Part VI, Chapter I (Article 94) of the Constitution of Bangladesh, adopte ...

Political career

Moni was the secretary for women's affairs and a member of the sub‐committee on foreign affairs of the

before her induction to the cabinet. She represented Chandpur‐3 as a member of the Bangladesh Parliament. Moni was the secretary for women's affairs and a member of the sub‐committee on foreign affairs of the Bangladesh Awami League before her induction to the cabinet. She worked for women's rights and entitlements, health legislation, health policy and management, health financing, strategic planning, and health and human rights under the Constitution and law in Bangladesh's economic and social development programmes and foreign policy issues of the region and globally. As a

she has represented her government's position to the cabinet ministers and public representatives of Asia, Europe and the US, ambassadors and senior representatives of international institutions. As the foreign minister she sought an apology for the

1971 Bangladesh Genocide The Bangladesh genocide was the ethnic cleansing of Bengalis residing in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) during the Bangladesh Liberation War, perpetrated by the Pakistan Army and the Razakar (Pakistan), Razakars. It began on 25 March 1971, as ...

from Pakistan. She also tried to bring the absconding killers of president Sheikh Mujib. Moni is the Awami League joint general secretary. She was elected chairman of

Asian University for Women Asian University for Women (AUW) is an independent, international university in Chittagong, Bangladesh. AUW admits students solely on the basis of merit, regardless of their family's income level. Currently, 85% of AUW students are on scholarsh ...

in 2016. She was the chairperson of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs in the last parliament. During the

2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement The 2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement was a series of anti-government and pro-democracy protests in Bangladesh, spearheaded primarily by Universities in Bangladesh, university students. Initially focused on restructuring Quota system of B ...

, Dipu Moni stated that "Those who introduce themselves as Razakars have no right to hold the blood-stained red and green flag of our

Liberation War Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

martyrs or to march with that flag tied to their foreheads".

Criticisms

Overseas visits

As the minister of foreign affairs, Moni was widely criticized by different news media because of her frequent overseas visits. According to some news reports, she made 187 foreign trips and 600 days of overseas stay in four and a half years. Moni responded that she went abroad every time with the approval of the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. She said that she made 114 foreign tours, including 36 with the president and the prime minister and claimed that the number of her bilateral visits was 62, not 17 as reported.

Corruption allegations, increase of wealth

According to affidavits submitted to the election office, since the

party came to power in 2008, her personal

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, so net w ...

has increased by over 4,000% in 15 years. On 19 August 2024, the '' Daily Star'' reported that Dipu Moni was being investigated on alleged corruption allegations.

Illegal sand extraction

On 25 October 2023, '' The Daily Star'' reported an investigation into illegal sand mining in Chandpur, raising concerns over Dipu Moni's alleged involvement in supporting the operations of Selim Khan, a local Awami League leader. Reports suggest that Khan, despite facing multiple charges of illegal sand extraction, continued his operations with the help of letters (Demi Official letters) written by Dipu Moni between 2015 and 2021 to various government bodies, including the Prime Minister's Office. These letters advocated for Khan's companies to be granted permission for sand extraction, despite a ban in place since 2023. Critics argue that Dipu Moni's political influence enabled Khan to evade legal repercussions and amass significant wealth from these activities. Dipu Moni, however, denies any wrongdoing, asserting that her letters were intended to promote legal sand extraction to prevent river erosion.

Legal case

On 15 August 2024, a case was filed against 510 known and 1,000-1,200 unnamed people affiliated with the Awami League for their alleged involvement in an arson attack on the residence of the district leader of the

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

in Chandpur on 18 July that included Moni and her brother JR Wadud Tipu. She was subsequently arrested on 19 August. On 20 August, another case was filed against her and her brother for their alleged involvement in an attack on student protesters during the

non-cooperation movement (2024) The non-cooperation movement, also known as the one-point movement, was a pro-democratic disinvestment movement and a mass uprising against the Awami League-led government of Bangladesh, initiated within the framework of 2024 Bangladesh quota r ...

in Chandpur on 4 August.

Personal life

Moni is married to Tawfique Nawaz, a senior advocate of the Bangladesh Supreme court. Moni's residence in Chandpur was vandalized after the resignation of PM Sheikh Hasina in the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moni, Dipu 1965 births Living people People from Chandpur District Politicians from Chittagong Division Holy Cross College, Dhaka alumni Alumni of University of London Worldwide National University, Bangladesh alumni Dhaka Medical College alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Alumni of the University of London Awami League politicians Women members of the Jatiya Sangsad Women government ministers of Bangladesh Ministers of foreign affairs of Bangladesh Female foreign ministers 10th Jatiya Sangsad members Bangladeshi women diplomats 11th Jatiya Sangsad members Ministers of education of Bangladesh Tungipara Sheikh family Bangladeshi physicians 20th-century Bangladeshi lawyers 21st-century Bangladeshi women politicians 20th-century Bangladeshi women lawyers 12th Jatiya Sangsad members 9th Jatiya Sangsad members