Sultana Kamal is a Bangladeshi lawyer and human rights activist. She serves as the executive director of

Ain o Salish Kendra The Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) ( (আসক); Centre for Law and Mediation) is a non-governmental legal aid and human rights organisation in Bangladesh. It is one of the leading human rights organizations of the country and is highly active in i ...

, a civil rights organisation. In 2006, she served as adviser in the Caretaker government of Bangladesh led by President

Iajuddin Ahmed Iajuddin Ahmed (1 February 193110 December 2012) was the President of Bangladesh, serving from 6 September 2002 until 12 February 2009. With a doctorate in soil science, Ahmed became a full professor at the University of Dhaka and chairman of ...

during the 2006-2008 Bangladeshi political crisis. Kamal, along with three other advisers, resigned from the caretaker government Her mother

Sufia Kamal Begum Sufia Kamal (20 June 1911 – 20 November 1999) was a Bangladeshi poet, feminist leader, and political activist. She took part in the Bengali nationalist movement of the 1950s and civil society leader in independent Bangladesh. She led fe ...

was a participant of the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

Early life and education

Sultana was born to Kamal Uddin Ahmed and

in 1950. Sufia was a writer and poet. She was enrolled in Leela Nagh's Nari Shikhkha Mondir. She passed SSC from

Azimpur Girls' High School Azimpur Government Girls' School and College () is a secondary and higher secondary school in Azimpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was established in 1957 by the Welfare Association of Government Employees. In 1999 the school had an enrollment of some 2 ...

and HSC from Holy Cross College. She received her Master's from

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

. In 1978 she completed her

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

. She passed

BCS Examination The BCS Examination () is a nationwide competitive examination in Bangladesh conducted by the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) for recruitment to the various Bangladesh Civil Service cadres, including BCS (Administration), BCS (Audit ...

. In 1981 she achieved Masters of Development Studies in Women and Development in

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Career

Sultana started her career as a teacher in the Music College. She joined Bangladesh Tobacco Company. In 1976 she entered an international voluntary service in Khadimnagar,

Sylhet Sylhet (; ) is a Metropolis, metropolitan city in the north eastern region of Bangladesh. It serves as the administrative center for both the Sylhet District and the Sylhet Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Surma River and, as o ...

. Up to 1990 she worked for Vietnamese boat peoples in Hong Kong as a UN legal consultant. In 1996, she won the

John Humphrey Freedom Award The John Humphrey Freedom Award was presented annually by the Canadian human rights group Rights & Democracy, to an organization or individual from any country or region of the world for exceptional achievement in the promotion of human rights and ...

from the Canadian human rights group

Rights & Democracy The International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (Rights & Democracy), was created to be a non-partisan, independent Canadian institution. It was established by an act of the Canadian parliament in 1988 to "encourage and suppo ...

. In 1971, she also joined the

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini, initially called the Mukti Fauj, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was a big tent armed guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military personnel, paramilitary personnel and civilians during the Ba ...

and was one of the founders of the Bangladesh Field Hospital in

Agartala Agartala (, , ) is the capital and the List of cities and towns in Tripura, largest city of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tripura, situated on the banks of Haora River, Haora/Saidra River, about east of the border ...

for the freedom fighters. Sultana and her sister Saeeda were the two out of four women to get the CNC's Special Commendation for their role in the liberation war. She writes in the dailies and periodicals on social, legal and gender issues. She has published a book on women's legal rights titled ''Manobir Nishanka Mon'' translated into English under the title of ''Her Unfearing Mind''. Her latest publications include ''Manabidhakar, Rashtra O Samaj'' (Human Rights, State and the Society) and ''Chilam Kothay Jeno Nilimar Niche'', a compilation of articles written by her over the last twenty five years. She travelled to more than 30 countries in professional capacity to address issues related to human and women's rights. At present she is the executive director of Ain-o-Salish Kendra (ASK). In addition to that she is now the chairperson of the We Can End Violence Against Women Alliance and chairperson for Transparency International Bangladesh. She is also co-chairperson for the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission. She is a trustee of Freedom Foundation and Protichi Bangladesh founded by

Amartya Sen Amartya Kumar Sen (; born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher. Sen has taught and worked in England and the United States since 1972. In 1998, Sen received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions ...

, The Gandhi Ashram Trust, Rokeya Memorial Foundation, a national council member of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, member of Bangladesh UNESCO National Commission, The National Legal Aid Committee, The Blue Planet Initiative, member of Asia Pacific Forum for Women Law and Development (Regional Network), Women Living Under Muslim Laws (International Network), South Asians For Human Right and South Asian Partnership among many others. She had been appointed as an Advisor to the Caretaker Government in October 2006 from which she resigned with 3 other colleagues in December which helped Lt. Gen. Moeen to take over power.

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

claimed that they failed to discharge their responsibilities including to hold parliamentary elections. Sultana was active in a children's organisation ''Kachi Kanchar Mela'', Cultural group ''Sangskriti Sangsad'', Struggles for Cultural Autonomy and the '69 mass upheavals as well as other social movements. Sultana was a founder member of the famous drama group "Nagorik Natya Samproday" and has acted in leading roles in its earlier productions.

Awards

Anannya Top Ten Awards Anannya Top Ten Awards () is the prize for women in Bangladesh recognition of contribution to the fields of agriculture, industrial, trade, economics, acting, music, sports, education, liberation war, social welfare and development-work-law, hum ...

(1995)

Personal life

Sultana is the widow of Supriyo Chakravarty, a

-based lawyer, who died in 2019. Their daughter Dia Chakravarty is a political activist based in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamal, Sultana Bangladeshi human rights activists Women human rights activists 1950 births Living people Recipients of the Independence Award Bangladeshi feminists Proponents of Islamic feminism Bangladeshi women's rights activists Advisers of caretaker governments of Bangladesh Holy Cross College, Dhaka alumni Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy Mukti Bahini personnel