Raihan Akhter Banu (Nickname: Roni; bn, রায়হান আখতার বানু, born 11 January 1952) is an ex

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

of Bangladesh and an active Political leader of

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী দল, Bangladesh Jātīyotābādī Dol; BNP) is a centre-right to right-wing nationalist, political party in Bangladesh and one of the maj ...

(BNP). She started her political career as a student leader of the then East Pakistan Student League that is currently known as

Bangladesh Chhatra League The Bangladesh Chhatra League ( bn, বাংলাদেশ ছাত্রলীগ; translation: Bangladesh Students' League; BSL), formerly known as the East Pakistan Student League, often simply called the Chhatra League, is a students' p ...

(বাংলাদেশ ছাত্র লীগ). As an organiser, she actively took part in 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 armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali ...

in 1971. She was elected as a member of parliament ( Member of the Jatiyo Sangshad) of Bangladesh in the

8th Parliament 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

on the nomination of

(BNP). She falls in the list of both 20th-century women politicians and 21st-century women politicians, as she started her politics in 1969 and became an MP in 2004.

Early life and education

Raihan Akhter Banu was born to Rowshan Ara and Abdur Rahman Mondal at 'Chalkdev Para' area of Naogaon Town in

Naogaon District Naogaon District ( bn, নওগাঁ, Nôugã) is a district in northern Bangladesh, part of the Rajshahi Division. It is named after its headquarters, the city of Naogaon in Naogaon Sadar Upazila. Demographics According to the 2022 Censu ...

. She completed her

Secondary School Certificate The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) or Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC), Matriculation examination, is a public examination in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan conducted by educational boards for the successful completion of the seco ...

(SSC) examination from the Central Girls' High School of Naogaon under

Rajshahi Board Rajshahi ( bn, রাজশাহী, ) is a metropolitan city and a major urban, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous division and district. Located on the north bank of the P ...

. She appeared in

Higher Secondary Certificate The Higher Secondary School Certificate is a secondary qualification in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Higher Secondary Education The Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education in Bangladesh recognises "Higher Secondary Education" unde ...

(HSC) examination from the Naogaon Govt. BMC Women's College. Raihan Akhter Banu Roni received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the

Rajshahi University The University of Rajshahi, also known as Rajshahi University or RU ( bn, রাজশাহী বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়), is a public co-educational research university in Bangladesh situated near the northern Bangladeshi cit ...

. Her father was a prominent person of the town. Her paternal Uncle Late Khan Mohammad Basir Uddin Mondal was a politician of the then

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcon ...

and the then

Pakistan Muslim League The Pakistan Muslim League ( ur, ; known as PML), is the name of several different Pakistani political parties that have dominated the right-wing platform in the country. The Muslim League (a different party) was the party of Pakistan’ ...

. Her paternal grandfather Late Zarif Modal was a landlord and rich person of the district. Her elder brother Late Mokhlesur Rahman Raja was a veteran

freedom fighter A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...

and a former leader 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 ...

(before 1974) and Jatiyo Samajtrantic Dal (JSD)(after 1974 to 1984). Late Kasir Uddin Mridha of Rajshahi, a veteran leader of the then

Rajshahi Rajshahi ( bn, রাজশাহী, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city and a major urban, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous Rajshahi Division, division and Rajshahi District ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, was her maternal grandfather. Her maternal uncle Late

Khoda Box Mridha Khoda Box Mridha (22 January 1945 – 30 March 2010) was a Bangladeshi sports commentator, player, and sports organizer. Early life and education Mridha passed his matriculation examination from Rajshahi Muslim Higher Secondary School in 1961 and ...

was a famous sports personality of the country. Pola Uddin, Baroness Uddin, a British life peer and community activist of Bangladeshi descent, is a cousin of Raihan Akhter Banu.

Early political career

Raihan Akhter Banu (Roni) started her political career at the age of 16 while she was a student of class 11 (Intermediate or HSC level). She followed her elder brother's footsteps in politics and became a member of the then

East Pakistan Students' League East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

, currently known as

(বাংলাদেশ ছাত্র লীগ), a sister organisation of

party. She was elected as Secretary of her Naogaon Govt. BMC Women's College Students' Union at the age of 17 years in 1969.

Marriage and Liberation War of Bangladesh

Raihan Akhter married a veteran Language Fighter of 1952 and well known leftist leader of Bangladesh Mohiuddin Ahmed. As a freedom fighter of battle field, her elder brother joined the

and her husband took part as an organiser. She also took part in the

of 1971, as an organiser. To organise, in June 1971 she went to

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. Duri ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...

and later on to

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

Motherhood and sabbatical from politics

After Bangladesh achieved her independence, Mrs. Raihan Akhter Banu took a long sabbatical from politics. She completed her Bachelor of Arts from the

university of Rajshahi The University of Rajshahi, also known as Rajshahi University or RU ( bn, রাজশাহী বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়), is a public co-educational research university in Bangladesh situated near the northern Bangladeshi cit ...

in 1972. She became mother of two sons and a daughter. She spent almost 20 years of her life rearing her children. She again started her political career in late 1990.

Politics after 1990

Raihan Akhter Banu was involved in an anti-autocratic regime movement of 1990 and later she participated in political programmes.

Member of Parliament and afterwards

In recent years Raihan Akhter has been active in both national politics and

BNP politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roni, Raihan Akhter Banu 1952 births Living people People from Naogaon District 20th-century Bangladeshi women politicians 8th Jatiya Sangsad members Women members of the Jatiya Sangsad University of Rajshahi alumni Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians 21st-century Bangladeshi women politicians