Aroma Dutta (born 20 July 1950)[1] is a Bangladeshi social and human rights activist. In February 2019, she was nominated by the ruling party, the Bangladesh Awami League, to a seat reserved for women in the 11th parliament of Jatiya Sangsad.[2]
Dutta is an executive director of PRIP (Private Rural Initiatives Program) Trust.[6] 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.[7] She has protested violence against minorities in Bangladesh and called for punishment for attackers involved in violence against Buddhists in Cox's Bazar.[8] She has spoken against the vested property act, that unfairly targets religious minorities.[9] She has expressed the only way to protect minorities in Bangladesh is through the proper implementation of laws in the country.[10]
Awards and honors
In 2016, Dutta was awarded the Begum Rokeya Padak by the government of Bangladesh.[11] She has called for security forces to be deployed in vulnerable election areas for elections to take place.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14]