Aroma Dutta

Aroma Dutta is a Bangladeshi social and human rights activist. In February 2019, she was nominated by the ruling party, Bangladesh Awami League, to a seat reserved for women in the 11th parliament of Jatiya Sangsad.[1]

Aroma Dutta
অরোমা দত্ত
NationalityBangladeshi
RelativesDhirendranath Datta (grandfather)
Ritwik Kumar Ghatak (uncle)

Early life

Dutta's grandfather, Dhirendranath Datta, a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan and the first person to demand Bengali be made a state language in Pakistan.[1] He was killed in the Bangladesh Liberation war by members of the Pakistan army and is considered a martyr in Bangladesh.[2] Aroma's father, Sanjib Datta, was a journalist who worked in the Pakistan Observer.[1] Her ancestral home in Brahmanbaria was taken over by Muslims after the Bangladesh Liberation war through the use of the vested property act. She has tried to get it back through the local courts but has failed to do so.[3] She served in the National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh. Her uncle was the filmmaker Ritwik Kumar Ghatak.[4]

Career

Dutta is an executive director of PRIP (Private Rural Initiatives Program) Trust.[5] In 2012, she criticised the draft Hindu Marriage Registration Act for making the registration of Hindu marriage optional and called for it to be made mandatory.[6] She has protested violence against minorities in Bangladesh and called for punishment for attackers involved in violence against Buddhists in Cox's Bazar.[7] She has spoken against the vested property act, that unfairly targets religious minorities.[8] She has expressed the only way to protect minorities in Bangladesh is through the proper implementation of laws in the country.[9]

Awards and honors

In 2016, Dutta was awarded the Begum Rokeya Padak by the Government of Bangladesh.[10] She has called for security forces to be deployed in vulnerable election areas for elections to take place.[11] In May 2017, she received the Danbir Ranada Prasad Memorial Honour and Gold Medal by the Kumudini Welfare Trust of Bengal, on behalf of her father.[12] She has called on the government to provide social security to Dalits, low caste Hindus, and other marginalised communities at a roundtable discussion in Dhaka.[13]

References
  1. "Aroma, Suborna to become MP as Awami League names 41 for reserved seats". bdnews24.com. 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  2. "Datta, Dhirendranath". en.banglapedia.org. Banglapedia. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  3. Tripathi, Salil (2016). The Colonel Who Would Not Repent: The Bangladesh War and Its Unquiet Legacy. Yale University Press. pp. 286–287. ISBN 978-0-300-21818-3.
  4. "Ritwik Kumar Ghatak recalled in Rajshahi". The Daily Star. 17 December 2009. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  5. "Aroma Dutta, Noorjahan Begum receive Begum Rokeya Award-2016". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  6. "Make registration mandatory". The Daily Star. 23 May 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  7. "Punish attackers". The Daily Star. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  8. "'Revise bill on vested property return act'". The Daily Star. 19 September 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  9. "Proper implementation of laws needed". The Daily Star. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  10. "Realise your rights by yourselves". The Daily Star. 10 December 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  11. "'Check if political party charter contradicts constitution'". The Daily Star. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  12. "RP Shaha Award: 3 eminent citizens receive gold medals". The Daily Star. 14 May 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  13. "Social Security for Dalits and Marginalised People". The Daily Star. 27 April 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
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