Hussain Muhammad Ershad
Hussain Muhammad Ershad was a Bangladeshi military officer, dictator and politician who served as the president of Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990.
He seized power as a result of a bloodless coup against President Abdus Sattar on 24 March 1982. He declared himself President in 1983, and subsequently won the controversial 1986 Bangladeshi presidential election. Despite claims to have legitimately won the 1986 election, many consider his regime as a military regime. Ershad founded the Jatiya Party in 1986 and became a Member of Parliament for JP in the constituency of Rangpur-3 in 1991, with successful re-elections in all subsequent general elections. He was the longest serving male head of government in Bangladeshi history.
During his tenure, Ershad pursued devolution reforms, privatization of nationalised industries; the expansion of the national highway system; and the founding of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation; he committed his nation's forces as an ally to the United States in the Gulf War. He contributed to developments in infrastructure and socio-economic growth, divesting key nationalised industries. In 1989, Ershad pushed parliament to make Islam the state religion, in a sharp departure from Bangladesh's original secular constitution. Ershad was forced to resign as president following a popular mass uprising led by Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina.
Early life and military career
Ershad was born in 1930 at Dinhata in Cooch Behar Princely State, British India to Mokbul Hossain and Mazida Khatun, in a Bengali Muslim family of Nashya Shaikh origin. Mokbul was a lawyer who served as a minister of the then Maharaja of Cooch Behar and was the son of Wakil Saadatullah. Ershad was the eldest of nine siblings including GM Quader, Mozammel Hossain Lalu and Merina Rahman. His parents migrated from Dinhata to East Bengal in 1948 after the Partition of India. Ershad studied in Carmichael College in Rangpur. He later graduated from the Dhaka University in 1950.Ershad was commissioned into the Pakistan Army from the 4th Officers Training School Course in 1952 from officers training school in Kohat. He was an adjutant in the East Bengal Regimental Centre, the regimental training depot in Chittagong. He completed advanced courses from the Command and Staff College in Quetta in 1966. After serving with a brigade in Sialkot, he was given command of the 3rd East Bengal Regiment in 1969 and the 7th East Bengal Regiment in 1971.
Bangladesh War of Independence and after
From the beginning of the Bangladesh War of Independence, Ershad was interned along with other Bengali officers stationed in West Pakistan and held as a prisoner of war. In 1973, he and the others were repatriated to the new nation of Bangladesh in accordance with the Simla Agreement between India's Indira Gandhi and Pakistan's Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.After his return, Ershad was appointed as Adjutant General of the Bangladesh Army by President of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of independent Bangladesh. The different experiences during the war of the professional and paramilitary officers and soldiers in Bangladesh, together with the country's diverse cultures, created instabilities in the years after independence. The members of the army who had been imprisoned or otherwise out of the country during the 1971 war later tended to form different political alliances than those who had participated in the war. This long influenced the instability of national politics and the armed forces. Ershad was sent for advanced military courses to the National Defence College, India.
On 15 August 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated. Although Maj. Gen. Ziaur Rahman was arrested in a counter-coup on 3 November 1975, he was restored to power in a coup led by Lt. Colonel Abu Taher on 7 November 1975. The Chief Justice of Bangladesh, Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem, succeeded to the presidency on 7 November 1975 during martial law. At that time, Ziaur Rahman was appointed as the Deputy Chief Martial Law Administrator. General Ziaur Rahman was appointed Army Chief by President of Bangladesh Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad. Rahman appointed Ershad as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff in 1975.
Ziaur Rahman assumed the presidency after legalising the military coups. He revived the multi-party system through the Fifth Amendment of the Bangladesh Constitution. He appointed Ershad as the new Chief of Army Staff, promoting him to the rank of lieutenant general. Viewed as a professional officer and having a talent for Bengali speech writing, Ershad soon became the closest politico-military counsellor of Ziaur Rahman.
Coup and presidency
After the assassination of Ziaur Rahman on 30 May 1981, Ershad remained loyal to the government. He ordered the army to suppress the coup attempt by Major General Abul Manzur. Ershad maintained loyalty to the new president Abdus Sattar, who had led the BNP to victory in elections in 1982.Ershad came to power in a bloodless coup on 24 March 1982 as Chief Martial Law Administrator. President Abdus Sattar was replaced with A. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury.
Ershad imitated his predecessor President Zia in many ways. Initially, he too installed a civilian president, Abul Fazal Muhammed Ahsanuddin Chowdhury, and became the President only on 11 December 1983. Suspending the constitution and political parties, Ershad took over as president on 11 December 1983 by replacing Chowdhury. Ershad ordered the embassy of the Soviet Union to reduce their staff after the government allegedly saw embassy personnel with anti-government protestors. The police had detained two Soviet diplomats outside of Dhaka in 1982 and Ershad had expressed fear of the Soviet Union.
Ershad supported the Land Reforms Ordinance of 1984, which granted important rights to tenants for the first time in the history of Bangladesh. A plan for the divestment of government industries promised to move the country away from socialism. In January 1985, he dissolved his council of ministers ahead of the general election. Bangladeshi lawyers went on work absentation to call for fair election and removal of Ershad. In March 1985, Ershad reimposed martial law on Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia were placed under house arrest. He deployed the Army for the referendum seeking approval to stay in power till the next election. In July 1985, he increased the size of his cabinet to 21 ministers which included Kazi Zafar Ahmed and Sirakuul Hossain Khan.
Ershad played a key role during the founding summit of the countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in 1985, which was held in Dhaka. Member states of South Asian States agreed to cooperate in politics and economics. Ershad brought together the leaders of India and Pakistan, Rajiv Gandhi and Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, respectively.
As president, Ershad approved amendments to the constitution of Bangladesh which declared Islam as the state religion, abandoning state secularism, The secular constitution was later restored. to improve rural administration, Ershad introduced the Upazila and Zila Parishad system. He held the 'first democratic elections for these village councils' in 1985.
Elections of 1986 and 1988
Jatiyo Party nominated Ershad in the Presidential Election of 1986, which was organised by his government. The only significant opposition candidates were Hafezzi Huzur and Syed Faruque Rahman, a retired colonel who had been accused in the 15 August Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 3 November jail killing in 1975. Parliamentary elections on 7 May 1986, held under the martial law. Main contenders for the parliamentary seats were the Jatiya Party, formed on 1 January 1986 when the nationwide ban on political activity was lifted, and comprising the five parties which had together formed the pro-government National Front in July 1985 and the opposition leftist Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina. The largest political party of the second Parliament, BNP decided to boycott the poll. Election day was held in a climate of unrest and was marked by opposition charges of voting fraud and malpractices. On 10 May, polling was suspended in 109 constituencies. Following re-elections in 37 constituencies on 19 May, final results giving JP an absolute parliamentary majority were announced ten days later. Ershad's JP was declared the winner with 153 seats out of 300. There were 115 opposition and 32 independent members. However, the inaugural House session was boycotted by 119 opposition and independent MPs. The same day, a new cabinet was sworn in. Ershad was elected as president on 15 October 1986. The inauguration saw widespread violence and protests against the government.However, Ershad faced increasing mass demonstrations on the streets mobilised by both the AL led by Sheikh Hasina and the BNP led by Khaleda Zia. The BNP boycotted the 1986 parliamentary election, but the AL which contested in the parliamentary election, later resigned from the parliament. In November 1986, Pope John Paul II visited Bangladesh. Ershad named Justice Minister A. K. M. Nurul Islam as vice-president in December. He replaced Minister of Home Affairs Mahmudal Hasan with M. A. Matin. He dismissed the Deputy Minister for Health and Family Planning and his sister-in-law, Mumta Wahab.
Bangladesh saw violent protests in 1987 calling for the resignation of Ershad. In July, eight people died in 54-hour general strike and hundreds were injured. The protest started against a new law that would allow the military to have role in local development which was opposed by the leader of an opposition party, Sheikh Hasina. In October, security forces detained more than 4,300 opposition activists. In November, Ershad banned marches in Dhaka. On 28 November, he declared a state of emergency which was followed by arrest of opposition leaders including Mirza Golam Hafiz and Zillur Rahman. On 6 December 1987, Ershad dissolved the parliament in the midst of an opposition campaign calling for his and his government's resignation, and a nationwide state of emergency, which had been declared on 27 November. He stated that he wished to pave the way for fresh elections to receive the people's mandate on various national issues. The polling date was originally set for 28 February before being postponed.
In January 1988, the government banned all political rallies. 80 people died in violence related to local council elections in February. The University of Dhaka, which was the centre of opposition against Ershad, saw session jams and decline in academic activities due to the unrest. Polling day was marked by violence and a boycott by the three leading opposition groups − the Awami League headed by Sheikh Hasina Wazed, the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami and the right-wing BNP, all of which alleged electoral fraud. In this context, the ruling Jatiya Dal, or Nationalist Party, reportedly increased its parliamentary majority to 251 seats, independents captured 25 seats and several minor parties shared the rest. On 27 March, a new Council of Ministers headed by Ershad was sworn in. The Prime Minister is Moudud Ahmed. In June 1988, Ershad led the parliament in making Islam the State Religion of Bangladesh. He dissolved the Election Reforms Commission after its chairman Justice Badrul Haider Chowdhury criticized the government. Bangladesh saw nationwide floods which killed more than 121 people. More than 680 died in Monsoon floods.