Rabina Khan

Cllr
Rabina Khan
Councillor of Shadwell
in Tower Hamlets Borough
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded by Mohammed Rashid
Personal details
Born 15 September 1972
Bangladesh
Nationality British
Political party Tower Hamlets First (2014–present)
Independent (2010–2014)
Labour (until 2010)
Spouse(s) Aminur Rashid Khan (m. 1992)
Children 2
Residence Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, London, England
Occupation Writer, novelist, politician, film producer, creative consultant, playwright, community worker
Profession Politician
Religion Islam
Website www.rabinakhan.com

Rabina Khan (Bengali: রবিনা খান; born 15 September 1972) is a Bangladeshi-born British writer, politician, councillor for Shadwell, Cabinet Member for Housing in Tower Hamlets Council, community worker and author of Ayesha's Rainbow.

Early life

Khan is the eldest of five siblings, whose father worked as a machine operator at Chatham Dockyards in Kent, he returned to Bangladesh to marry. Khan was born in Bangladesh and brought to England by her mother at the age of three.[1] Khan grew up in Rochester, Kent.[2]

In 1992, at the age of 19, after studying for her A-levels, Khan left school, got married, and moved to Tower Hamlets, London to be with her husband, then a trainee teacher who is four years her senior.[1][3]

Writing career

In 2003, Khan published her first novel Rainbow Hands.[3] Followed by a short story If Birds Could Fly published in Channel 4's TN4 Magazine.[4] In 2006, she published her second novel Ayesha's Rainbow[5]

Khan was awarded a place on the Royal Literary Fund Mentoring Scheme and asked to take part in the Spitafields Women's Literary Festival 2004 and 2005. She was awarded a Tower Hamlets Civic Award.[3]

In June 2005, Khan co-founded Monsoon Press with Rekha Waheed,[1][6] She has also been involved in editing the anthologies, Silent Voices[7] and Behind The Hijab.[8] Between January 2006 to January 2008, Khan was writer in residence at Central Foundation Girls' School.[1][6]

Khan has worked as a freelance creative consultant for BBC, ITV, Rich Mix Cultural Foundation and Wellcome Trust. She has contributed to the BBC Asian Network[9] and delivered commission for the Arts Council.[10] In 2006, Khan appeared in and was a script advisor for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's documentary Young, British and Muslim.[9]

In January 2007, Khan founded television production company, Silsila Productions.[11] Since 2007, she has been a Creative Director at Silsila Productions.[9] In 2007, she also wrote the play Shilpa and Jade for the Wellcome Trust Pulse Project.[12] In 2009, she wrote the screenplay Shahid and Annika[13] She wrote and produced two short films – The Good Wife, sponsored by Sixteen Films, and Shrouded, commissioned by London Met Services.[12]

Community work

Khan has worked for as a Community Regeneration worker in Isle of Dogs, Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. She has worked for Tower Hamlets Council in the social and education sectors and for government regeneration initiatives such as Bethnal Green City Challenge managing education and empowerment projects for women and young girls from ethnic minority communities. Khan has also been involved in community initiatives in Tower Hamlets.[3]

Political career

In May 2010, in the Tower Hamlets Council election, as a Labour Party candidate, Khan won her Shadwell seat where previously a Labour candidate had failed three times to win. In October 2010, she was suspended along with nine other councillors from the Labour Party for her support of the Independent Mayor, Lutfur Rahman, in Tower Hamlets.[10][14] In 2014, Khan was re-elected in the Shadwell ward.

In April 2015, she announced that she will be a candidate in the election for Mayor of Tower Hamlets.[15][16]

Khan is also the Cabinet Member of Housing,[17] Development and Renewal with a remit for delivering housing pledges.[18]

Awards and nominations

In 2010, Khan was short listed for the European Muslim Women of Influence Award.[12] In October 2014, she was named 'hero of the year' in the prestigious European Diversity awards for her engagement in the East End and wider society.[19][15]

Personal life

Khan is a Muslim[15] and lives in Whitechapel, London[20] with her husband Aminur, two daughters Zakia (born 1995) and Nabila (born 2000), and mother-in-law.[1]

Novels

Year Title Credit Publisher ISBN
2003 Rainbow Hands Author Authors Online 978-0755200887
If Birds Could Fly TN4 Magazine
2006 Ayesha's Rainbow Fore-Word Press 978-0954886721
2007 Silent Voices Editor Monsoon Press
2009 Behind The Hijab

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Kemp, Charlotte (29 August 2009). "'The veil should not be a barrier between women'". Abu Dhabi: The National. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  2. ↑ "Rabina Khan". BBC Radio 4. 17 October 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Biography for Rabina Khan". Authors OnLine. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  4. ↑ "Books and Writing". Rabina Khan. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  5. ↑ "Ayesha's Rainbow". Amazon.co.uk. 15 September 2006. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Book week: Profile – Rabina Khan". Asians in Media. 14 September 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Ayesha's Rainbow". Amazon.co.uk. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  8. ↑ "Behind the Hijab". Amazon.co.uk. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Behind the Hijab". Silsila Productions. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2012. Rabina Khan
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Enke, Anne (20 October 2010). "In Her Own Words – Rabina Khan Speaks of Her Labour Party Suspension". Anne of Carversville. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  11. ↑ "Rabina Khan – Artists directory". Arts & Entertainment. Tower Hamlets. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Rabina Khan". MBA Literary Agents. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  13. ↑ "Behind the Hijab". Silsila Productions. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2012. Rabina Khan
  14. ↑ Gilligan, Andrew (1 October 2010). "Lutfur Rahman: Eleven are expelled from the Labour Party". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Brooke, Mike (1 May 2015). "Rabina Khan takes on fight for sacked mayor Rahman for Tower Hamlets re-run election". London: East London Advertiser. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  16. ↑ de Peyer, Robin (30 April 2015). "Disgraced ex-Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman calls on supporters to donate funds for legal challenge". London: London Evening Standard. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  17. ↑ "London Borough of Tower Hamlets". London Councils' Directory. 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  18. ↑ Karim, Mohammed Abdul; Karim, Shahadoth (October 2011). British Bangladeshi Who's Who (PDF). British Bangla Media Group. p. 68. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  19. ↑ Asaad Buaras, Elham (28 November 2014). "Muslim Councillor wins European diversity award". Muslim News. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  20. ↑ Saini, Angela (1 February 2007). "Racism in words". BBC News. Retrieved 1 May 2012.

External links