Happy Birthday Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury

Saleh Ahmed Hussain: Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, the current and the first woman Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad since April 2013, a dynamic personality, is one of the very few women in Bangladesh who has established herself by being self-confident through her work.
Shirin Sharmin was born on 6 October, 1966 in Chatkhil thana of Noakhali. She is the daughter of Rafiqullah Chaudhury, a CSP officer from Chatkhil in Noakhali district and former secretary to the Bangladesh Government.
Her mother Naiyar Sultana, was a Professor, Principal of Dhaka College and a member of the Bangladesh Public Service Commission. Her grandfather was Justice Sikandar Ali of the East Pakistan High Court.
Her husband Syed Ishtiaque Hossain is working as a consultant for a renowned pharmaceutical company. She is the mother of one son and one daughter.
From early age Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury was a very meritorious student, she got the first place in the combined merit list in the SSC examinations from the Humanities group of Dhaka Board in 1983. In 1985, she got second place in the combined merit list in the humanities group in HSC from the same board. In 1989 she got LLB from Dhaka University and in 1990 LLM from the same university.
After finishing her studies, Dr. Shirin joined the Bangladesh Bar Council in 1992 as a lawyer and worked for 15 years in the Bangladesh Supreme Court.
She later joined politics and soon became the soul of politics for the country. In the field of politics, she consolidated her position in the party under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as a transparent, efficient, competent dedicated activist.
She was elected a Member of Parliament in the reserved women’s seat in the Ninth Parliamentary Elections and served as state minister of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.
She is a member of the Central Committee of the Bangladesh Awami League as well as the Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. On September 9, 2014, she was elected Chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
She has worked tirelessly to get the Amki Mahila Alim Madrasa in Sonaimuri of Noakhali district enrolled, and provided financial and governmental support to this women’s educational institution. As a result, thousands of female students in the area are getting opportunity to get education from this madrasa. This initiative increased her widespread popularity in the area.
She has succeeded in all the initiatives in her works and personal life. On April 30, 2013, Dr. Shrin Sharmin was elected as the first woman and youngest Speaker of the national parliament in the history of Bangladesh at the age of 46.
As the Speaker of the parliament, she has been performing her duties of the Great National Assembly since 30th April, 2013 with utmost honesty, integrity and impartiality.
Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury is a Commonwealth Scholar. In 2000, she received a PhD in law from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom. The subject of her research was constitutional law and human rights.
Under her strong leadership, the 136th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) 2018 conference brightened the image of Bangladesh abroad.
The Member of Parliament, elected from the seat vacated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Rangpur-6 (Pirganj), has been carrying out massive development activities in her area.

In Pirganj, development activities have been implemented in the field of education, academic buildings have been constructed in more than 50 educational institutions.
Since then, more developments have taken place in the infrastructural development sector, extensive development activities are underway in various projects including roads, bridges and culverts.
Today is the birthday of Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, I wish her good health and long life in the court of Almighty Allah.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. SHIRIN SHARMIN CHAUDHURY.

The author is a Journalist and a Columnist.