Ivy Rahman ( bn, আইভি রহমান;; 7 July 1934 – 24 August 2004) was a Bangladeshi politician. She was the Women's Affairs secretary of

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 ...

. She was killed in the

2004 Dhaka grenade attack The 2004 Dhaka grenade attack took place at an anti-terrorism rally organised by Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue on 21 August 2004. The attack left 24 dead and more than 500 injured. The attack was carried out at 5:22 pm after Sheikh Has ...

Career

Rahman was the founding organizing secretary of Awami League's Women's wing,

Mohila Awami League The Bangladesh Mohila Awami League is the women wing of Bangladesh Awami League. Meher Afroze Chumki is the president and Shabnam Jahan Shila is the general secretary of the league. The Mohila League has infrequent elections for local and nation ...

, established by

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali politi ...

in 1969. She was elected Women Affairs Secretary of Awami League Central Working Committee in 1978 and 2 years later she became the President of Mohila Awami League. She had served in those positions until 2002. From 1996 to 2001, Ivy served as the chair of ''Jatiya Mohila Sangstha'' and ''Bangladesh Jatiya Mohila Samabaya Samity''. She was the President of ''Mohila Samity'' and General Secretary of ''Bangladesh Andhakalyan Samity'' until her death.

Personal life

Ivy Rahman was born in

Bhairab Upazila Bhairab ( bn, ভৈরব) is a upazila of Kishoreganj District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Joanshahi was another name of Bhairab. The city centre of this upazila is Bhairab Bazaar. About 118,992 people live in Bhairab municipality wh ...

Kishoreganj District Kishoreganj ( bn, কিশোরগঞ্জ) is a district in Dhaka Division, Bangladesh. Earlier it was a Mohkuma (মহকুমা) under the Mymensingh district. It was taken 2495.07 sq. km of land from Mymensingh district to form pre ...

. She was the fifth among the eleven children of the Principal of

Dhaka College Dhaka College ( bn, ঢাকা কলেজ also known as DC) is the oldest secular educational institution of Bangladesh located in Dhaka. It offers higher secondary education ( HSC). It has Honours and Masters programs as well which are af ...

, Jalal Uddin Ahmed and Hasina Begum. Her elder sister Shamsur Nahar Siddique is the mother-in-law of Bangladesh Awami League politician

Sheikh Rehana Sheikh Rehana Siddiq (born 13 September 1957) is a Bangladesh Awami League politician. She is the younger sister of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the daughter of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. She is also the moth ...

. She married fellow Awami League politician

Zillur Rahman Mohammed Zillur Rahman (9 March 1929 – 20 March 2013) was the President of Bangladesh from 2009 to 2013. He was also a senior presidium member of the Awami League. He is the third president of Bangladesh, after Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Zi ...

on 27 June 1958, when she was 24 years old and he was 29 years old. Zillur Rahman became the

President of Bangladesh The president of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের রাষ্ট্রপতি — ) officially the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশে ...

in 2009. They had two daughters - Tania and Monia and one son -

Nazmul Hasan Papon Nazmul Hassan (born 31 May 1961) is the current president of Bangladesh Cricket Board and a member of parliament from Kishoreganj-6 constituency. Personal life Hassan was born to Zillur Rahman, who later became president of Bangladesh, and Ivy R ...

. Papon is an Awami League member of parliament and president of

Bangladesh Cricket Board The Bangladesh Cricket board ( bn, বাংলাদেশ ক্রিকেট বোর্ড; abbreviated as BCB) is the governing body of cricket in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Cricket Board first became an associate member of the Inter ...

Death

On 21 August 2004, Rahman was present at an Awami League political rally in

Dhaka 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 ...

. After the speech by

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina Wazed (''née'' Sheikh Hasina ; ; bn, শেখ হাসিনা ওয়াজেদ, Shēkh Hasinā, , born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh since January 2 ...

ended, terrorists launched a co-ordinated grenade attack on the Awami league leaders. Ivy Rahman was injured in the grenade blast, and both of her legs were blown off. After 3 days, she died on 24 August 2004, in the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka. She was buried in Banani Graveyard.

References

1934 births 2004 deaths Assassinated Bangladeshi politicians Awami League politicians Bangladeshi women in politics Terrorism deaths in Bangladesh Burials at Banani Graveyard 2004 murders in Bangladesh Bangladeshi terrorism victims Sheikh Mujibur Rahman family {{AwamiLeague-politician-stub