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Dipu Moni (born 8 December 1965)[1] is a Bangladeshi politician and former minister of social welfare. She was a member of parliament for the Chandpur-3 constituency.[2] She was minister of education in the fourth Hasina ministry and minister of foreign affairs in the second Hasina ministry. She was appointed as the first female foreign minister of Bangladesh on 6 January 2009, serving until 2013. Currently she is joint secretary of the Bangladesh Awami League.[3]
Dipu Moni was born on 8 December 1965[1] in the village of Kamranga in Chandpur, Chattogram Division, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Her father, Mohammad Abdul Wadud, was a founding member of the Awami League and known especially for his role in the Language Movement and as the first Council-elected General Secretary of the East Pakistan Chhatra League. Moni passed HSC from Holy Cross College, Dhaka. Her mother, Begum Rahima, was a teacher. Her brother, Jawadur Rahim Wadud Tipu, is a diabetic foot surgeon.[4]
Moni studied MBBS at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital and LLB at Bangladesh National University. She later earned a Master's in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, and Master of Laws at the University of London as an external student.[5][6] She completed a course on negotiations and conflict resolutions from Harvard University. She is a lawyer of Bangladesh Supreme Court.
Moni was the secretary for women's affairs and a member of the sub‐committee on foreign affairs of the Bangladesh Awami League before her induction to the cabinet. She represented Chandpur‐3 as a member of the Bangladesh Parliament.
Moni was the secretary for women's affairs and a member of the sub‐committee on foreign affairs of the Bangladesh Awami League before her induction to the cabinet.[7]
She worked for women's rights and entitlements, health legislation, health policy and management, health financing, strategic planning, and health and human rights under the Constitution and law in Bangladesh's economic and social development programmes and foreign policy issues of the region and globally.[8][9]
As a minister of foreign affairs she has represented her government's position to the cabinet ministers and public representatives of Asia, Europe and the US, ambassadors and senior representatives of international institutions. As the foreign minister she sought an apology for the 1971 Bangladesh genocide from Pakistan.[10] She also tried to bring the absconding killers of president Sheikh Mujib.[11] Moni is the Awami League joint general secretary.[12] She was elected chairman of Asian University for Women in 2016.[13] She was the chairperson of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs in the last parliament.[14]
During the 2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement, Dipu Moni stated that "Those who introduce themselves as Razakars have no right to hold the blood-stained red and green flag of our Liberation War martyrs or to march with that flag tied to their foreheads".[15]
As the minister of foreign affairs, Moni was widely criticized by different news media because of her frequent overseas visits. According to some news reports, she made 187 foreign trips and 600 days of overseas stay in four and a half years.[16][17][18] Moni responded that she went abroad every time with the approval of the prime minister. She said that she made 114 foreign tours, including 36 with the president and the prime minister and claimed that the number of her bilateral visits was 62, not 17 as reported.[18]
According to affidavits submitted to the election office, since the Awami League party came to power in 2008, her personal net worth has increased by over 4,000% in 15 years.[19][20][21] On 19 August 2024, the Daily Star reported that Dipu Moni was being investigated on alleged corruption allegations.[22]
On 25 October 2023, The Daily Star reported an investigation into illegal sand mining in Chandpur, raising concerns over Dipu Moni's alleged involvement in supporting the operations of Selim Khan, a local Awami League leader. Reports suggest that Khan, despite facing multiple charges of illegal sand extraction, continued his operations with the help of letters (Demi Official letters) written by Dipu Moni between 2015 and 2021 to various government bodies, including the Prime Minister's Office. These letters advocated for Khan's companies to be granted permission for sand extraction, despite a ban in place since 2023. Critics argue that Dipu Moni's political influence enabled Khan to evade legal repercussions and amass significant wealth from these activities. Dipu Moni, however, denies any wrongdoing, asserting that her letters were intended to promote legal sand extraction to prevent river erosion.[23][24]
On 15 August 2024, a case was filed against 510 known and 1,000-1,200 unnamed people affiliated with the Awami League for their alleged involvement in an arson attack on the residence of the district leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in Chandpur on 18 July that included Moni and her brother JR Wadud Tipu.[25] She was subsequently arrested on 19 August.[26] On 20 August, another case was filed against her and her brother for their alleged involvement in an attack on student protesters during the non-cooperation movement (2024) in Chandpur on 4 August.[27]
Moni is married to Tawfique Nawaz,[28] a senior advocate of the Bangladesh Supreme court.
Moni's residence in Chandpur was vandalized after the resignation of PM Sheikh Hasina in the non-cooperation movement (2024).[29][30]
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