Syeda Zakia Noor Lipi

Syeda Zakia Noor Lipi
সৈয়দা জাকিয়া নূর লিপি
Member of 11th Jatiya Sangsad
Member of Parliament for Constituency 162, Kishoreganj-1
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 February 2019
Preceded by	Sayed Ashraful Islam
Personal details
Political party	Bangladesh Awami League
Parent(s)	Syed Nazrul Islam (father)
Relatives	Sayed Ashraful Islam (brother)
Occupation	Retired doctor[1]

Sayeda Zakia Noor Lipi is a Bangladesh Awami League politician and the incumbent Jatiya Sangsad member from Kishoregonj 1.^[2][3]This is the same constituency which her father, Syed Nazrul Islam, National Leader and the acting president of Mujibnagar Government 1971, and her eldest brother, Sayed Ashraful Islam, the Ex-General Secretary of Bangladesh Awami League and a cabinet minister, represented for over three decades.^[4][5][6]

Early Life and Family[]

Sayeda Zakia Noor Lipi was born into a Bengali Muslim family of Syeds from Kishoreganj. She was the fifth among the six children of Syed Nazrul Islam and Begum Nafisa. Apart from late Syed Ashraful Islam, she has three elder brothers: Dr. Syed Manzurul Islam, Major General (Ret’d) Syed Shafayetul Islam and Dr. Syed Shariful Islam. Her younger sister Sayda Rafia Noor Rupa is an entrepreneur and a social worker. Her mother Islam was an exceptionally caring person with very strong personality. Lipi takes great pride in the fact that apart from the youngest brother who was too young in 1971, all of the other three brothers were freedom fighters Mukti Bahini.

Being born in one of the most well-known political families, Lipi inherited the values of public service. She feels fortunate to have experienced the affection of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in her childhood. In 1971, she witnessed the atrocities of the Pakistani army during their four-month long perilous journey as a refugee to India Bangladesh Liberation War and experienced the tumultuous events in the official residence of the leaders of the exiled Mujibnagar government in Kolkata. Later on, in the aftermath of the military coups in 1975, in which her father Syed Nazrul Islam, the then Vice President of the Government of Bangladesh, was brutally murdered in prison Jail Killing Day, she, along with the members of her family, has suffered mental persecution and endured the blatant propaganda by the anti- liberation forces but always believed that the truth will emerge one day. She is fearless by character and never hesitate to oppose those who are against our valiant freedom fighters and the progressive, non-communal and the democratic values that they represent.

Education and Work[]

Lipi started her primary education at Viqarunnisa Noon School and College in Dhaka and later passed her SSC and HSC from Muslim Girls’ School and Muminunnisa College in Mymensingh. She was actively involved in cultural programmes in Schools and Colleges. She studied MBBS at Sylhet and Mymensingh Medical College and completed a Post-Graduate Training from SSMC Dhaka. During her time in the UK, she obtained two post- graduate degrees from leading UK universities: an MSc in Health Sciences from Newcastle University Medical School and an MPhil from Loughborough University for her thesis on ‘Infant feeding practices and postnatal depression of South Asian women living in the UK’. Lipi worked in Bangladesh as well as for the National Health Service of the UK. Her main focus was mental health. She founded a voluntary organisation in the UK with help from other fellow women. She was a member of the Editorial Board of the Ethnic Minority Health focus Newsletter which was published in Leicestershire, UK for several years. She was also an Executive Member of the Racial Equality Council in Loughborough, UK.

Political career[]

Lipi is the current member of the parliament from Kishoreganj-1. She is a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Social Welfare and also a member of the Bangladesh Medical Research Council. She joined Bangladesh Chhatra League as a 1st year student of Medical College and participated in movements and demonstrations against the then military government. It became one of her duties to look after the injured and traumatised people belonging to Awami League and its affiliated organisations who came to Mymensingh from various places including Kishoreganj. During the autocratic period of 1975-1991, their house was the safe haven and hideout for pro-liberation politicians who were fleeing from the military led anti-liberation forces. In the UK, Lipi participated in many protests and demonstrations to raise concerns on humanitarian issues around the world. She was an active member of the British Labour Party but gave up the membership as a protest when the UK government took part in the Iraq War. Later on she left her job in the NHS as well as gave up her British Citizenship to take oath as an elected Member of the Bangladesh National Parliament. She was closely attached to her late brother Syed Ashraful Islam, who she feels was her political mentor. During her stay with her brother for few years she gained extensive knowledge about national and global politics and was inspired to come back to Bangladesh permanently and serve its people.

Personal life[]

Lipi is married to Dr. R G M Hasan, an academic who studied at Imperial College London and BUET, Dhaka. She is the mother of two daughters: Rhymee, a Pharmacist, graduated from University College London and Rebecca who obtained her medical degree from University of Birmingham UK. She has travelled widely in Asia, Europe and America and have experienced different cultures, social norms and religious beliefs. She is a voracious reader, enjoys movies and is an excellent cook.

References[]