Aroma Dutta

Aroma Dutta is a Bangladeshi social and human rights activist.

Early life

Aroma Dutta's father was Dhirendranath Datta, a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan and the first person to demand Bengali be made a state language in Pakistan. Her father was killed in the Bangladesh Liberation war by members of the Pakistan army and is considered a martyr in Bangladesh. She served in the National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh. Her uncle was the noted filmmaker Ritwik Kumar Ghatak.

Career

Aroma Dutta is a executive director of PRIP (Private Rural Initiatives Program) Trust. 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. She has protested violence against minorities in Bangladesh and called for punishment for attackers involved in violence against Buddhists in Cox's Bazar. She has spoken against the vested property act, that unfairly targets religious minorities. She has expressed the only way to protect minorities in Bangladesh is through the proper implementation of laws in the country.

In 2016 Aroma Dutta was awarded the Begum Rokeya Award by the government of Bangladesh. The award was named after women's right activist Begum Rokeya Shakhawat Hossain and was presented to Aroma Dutta by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Aroma Dutta has called for security forces to be deployed in vulnerable election areas for elections to take place. On 13 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. She has called on the government to provide scoial security to Dalits, low caste Hindus, and other marginalised communities at a roundtable discussion in Dhaka.