National Revolution and Solidarity Day
National Revolution and Solidarity Day is a commemorative and former public holiday celebrated in Bangladesh on 7 November to commemorate the 7 November 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état by regular army soldiers and the common masses that showed solidarity with them.
In the backdrop of the 15 August coup that resulted in the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a series of coups and counter-coups ended with the 3 November coup to remove from power Mujib's replacement President Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, organised by the pro-Mujib Brig. Gen. Khaled Mosharraf, who was assassinated in the aftermath. Meanwhile, the soldiers proceeded to release Maj. Gen. Ziaur Rahman, who was put under house arrest at the inception of the coup by Mosharraf. The uprising, though organised by Lt. Col. Abu Taher and his clandestine revolutionary socialist group of soldier mutineers, the Biplobi Shainik Sangstha, to unsuccessfully create a socialist revolution, resulted in Zia's ascension to power.
The day marks the end of the political turmoil and series of coups and counter-coups that occurred after the assassination of Mujibur Rahman, the founding President of Bangladesh, on 15 August 1975.
Observance
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Liberal Democratic Party and several other parties commemorate the day and regard the coup as a "civil–military uprising". Taher's party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, views the day similarly but observes it as the "Sepoy-People's Uprising Day". On the contrary, the Awami League views it negatively and considers it neither a revolutionary nor a solidarity day, calling it the "Freedom Fighters Killing Day".7 November was a national holiday in Bangladesh during the military government of Lt. Gen. Hussain Muhammad Ershad and prime minister Khaleda Zia's ministries. In November 2007, the military-backed caretaker government of Fakhruddin Ahmed dismissed the holiday.