Ziaur Rahman

Early life

Ziaur Rahman, popularly known as Zia, was the second son of Mansur Rahman and Jahanara Khatun. His father was a chemist who specialised in paper and ink chemistry and worked for a government department at Writer's Building in Kolkata. As a child Ziaur Rahman, nicknamed Komol, was reserved, shy, quietly spoken, and intense in many respects. He was raised in Bagbari village, Bogra and studied in Bogra Zilla School.

In 1946, Mansur Rahman enrolled Zia for a short stint in one of the leading boys schools of Calcutta, Hare School, where Zia studied until the dissolution of the British Empire in South Asia and creation of India and Pakistan in 1947. With the Partition of India, Mansur Rahman exercised his option to become a citizen of a Muslim majority Pakistan and in August 1947 moved to Karachi the first capital of Pakistan located in Sindh, West Pakistan. Zia, at the age of 11, had become a student in class six at the Academy School in Karachi in 1947. Zia spent his adolescent years in Karachi and by age 16 completed his secondary education from that School in 1952.

In 1953, Zia was admitted into the D.J. College in Karachi. In the same year he joined the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul as an officer cadet.

Marriage to Khaleda Majumder

In August 1960, his marriage was arranged to Khaleda Majumder the 15-year-old daughter of Iskandar Majumder and Taiyaba Majumder from the Dinajpur District, in a simple ceremony. Khaleda Majumder also known as Khaleda Zia, who later became Prime Minister of Bangladesh three times. Ziaur Rahman, a Captain in the then Pakistani Army who was posted at that time as an Officer of the Defence Forces. His father, Mansur Rahman could not attend the marriage ceremony, as he was in Karachi. Zia's mother had died earlier.

Military career in Pakistan

Graduating from the Pakistan Military Academy at 12th PMA long course on 18 September 1955 in the top 10% of his class, Ziaur Rahman was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Pakistan Army. In the army, he received commando training, became a paratrooper and received training in a special intelligence course.

Zia went to East Pakistan on a short visit and was struck by the negative attitude of the Bengali middle class towards the military, which consumed a large chunk of the country's resources. The low representation of the Bengalis in the military was largely due to discrimination, but Ziaur Rahman felt that the Bengali attitude towards the military perhaps prevented promising young Bengali from seeking military careers. As a Bengali army officer he advocated military careers for Bengali youth. After serving for two years in Karachi, he was transferred to the East Bengal Regiment in 1957. He attended military training schools in West Germany and UK. He also worked in the military intelligence department from 1959 to 1964.

Ayub Khan's highly successful military rule from 1958 to 1968 convinced Zia of the need for a fundamental change in the Bengali attitude towards the military. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Ziaur Rahman saw combat in the Khemkaran sector in Punjab as the commander of a company unit of 300–500 soldiers. Ziaur Rahman won the prestigious Hilal-i-Jur'at medal, Pakistan’s second highest military award, and his unit won 2 Sitara-e-Jurat (Star of Courage) medals, and 9 Tamgha-e-Jurat (Medal of Courage) medals, for their role in the 1965 War with India. In 1966, Zia was appointed military instructor at the Pakistan Military Academy, later going on to attend the Command and Staff College in Quetta, Pakistan, he completed a course in command and tactical warfare. Zia helped raise two Bengali battalions called the 8th and 9th Bengals during his stint as instructor. Around the same time, his wife Khaleda Zia, now 23, gave birth to their first child Tarique Rahman on 20 November 1964. Zia joined the 2nd East Bengal regiment as its second-in-command at Joydebpur in Gazipur district, near Dhaka, in 1969, and travelled to West Germany to receive advanced military and command training with the German Army and later spent a few months with the British Army.

Pre-Independence

Zia returned to Pakistan the following year and was promoted to Major. He transferred in October 1970 to be second-in-command of the 8th East Bengal regiment stationed in Chittagong. East Pakistan had been devastated by the 1970 Bhola cyclone, and the population had been embittered by the slow response of the central government and the political conflict between Pakistan's two major parties, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Awami League, and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's PPP. In the 1970 Pakistan Parliamentary elections the Awami League had won a majority and it leader Sheikh Mujib laid claim to form a government, but Pakistan President Yahya Khan postponed the convening of the legislature under pressure from Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's PPP party.

Bangladesh War of Independence 1971

Following the failure of last-ditch talks, Yahya Khan declared martial law and ordered the army to crack down on Bengali political activities. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested before midnight on 26 March 1971, taken to Tejgaon International Airport and flown to West Pakistan. Before his arrest, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh.

Zia, who already by then geared to revolt against the government of Pakistan, was preparing to defect, and later arrested and executed his commanding officer Lt. Col. Janjua, revolted and broadcast the announcement of the Declaration of Independence on 27 March 1971 from Kalurghat, Chittagong, which read:

This is Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. I, Major Ziaur Rahman, Provincial Head of the government, do hereby declare that Independence of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.

Later, a second broadcast was read:

I, Major Ziaur Rahman, do hereby declare the Independence of Bangladesh in the name of our great leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Later in an interview with German Radio, Ziaur Rahman talked about his 27 March announcement.

Zia organised an infantry unit gathering all Bengali soldiers from military and EPR units in Chittagong. He designated it Sector No. 1 with its HQ in Sabroom. A few weeks later, it was restructured officially under Bangladesh Forces as the sector in the Chittagong and Hill Tracts area, under ColonelM. A. G. Osmani, the Supreme Commander of Bangladesh Forces, of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh HQ'd at 8 Theatre Road, Calcutta, WB, India. On 30 July 1971 Zia was appointed the commander of the first conventional brigade of the Bangladesh Forces, which was named "Z Force", after the first initial of his name, followed by K-forces in late August and S-force in mid September, named after Major Khaled Musharraf and Major Shafiullah respectively. His brigade consisted of 1st, 3rd and 8th East Bengali regiments, enabling Zia to launch major attacks on Pakistani forces. With the Z Force, Zia "acquired a reputation for icy bravery" according to The New York Times, and was awarded the Bir Uttom, the second-highest military honour (and the highest for living officers) by the Government of Bangladesh.

Assassination of Mujib in 1975 and its aftermath

On 15 August 1975 President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family were assassinated at home as part of a military coup. One of Mujibur Rahman's cabinet ministers and a leading conspirator Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad gained the presidency and following the removal of Major General K M Shafiullah, appointed Ziaur Rahman (then deputy Chief of Army Staff and Major General) army chief. It is thought that Zia knew about the military coup before it happened. However, the coup of 15 August caused a period of instability and unrest in Bangladesh and in the ranks and files of the army. Brigadier Khaled Mosharraf and the 46th Brigade of Dhaka Cantonment under Colonel Shafat Jamil staged a counter-coup on 3 November 1975, and Ziaur Rahman was forced to relinquish his post and put under house arrest. This was followed by (Sipoy-Janata Biplob) (Soldiers and People's Coup) ("National Revolution and Solidarity Day") on 7 November, a mutiny staged by the Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal (JSD or National Socialist Party) under retired Lieutenant Colonel Abu Taher and a group of socialist military officers. Khaled Mosharraf was killed and Colonel Jamil arrested, while Ziaur Rahman was freed by the 2nd Artillery regiment under Lt. Col. Rashid and re-appointed him as army chief.

Following a meeting at army headquarters, an interim government was formed with Justice Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem as chief martial law administrator and Major General Ziaur Rahman, Air Vice Marshal M. G. Tawab and Rear Admiral M. H. Khan as his deputies. However, discipline in the army had totally collapsed and it was difficult to disarm the soldiers and put them back to the barracks. Zia realised that the disorder by the mutiny had to be suppressed firmly if discipline was to be restored in the Bangladesh Army. Zia cracked down on the JSD and Gonobahini. Abu Taher was sentenced to death and other party figures had various terms of imprisonment slapped on them. Taher was executed on 21 July 1976. Zia became the chief martial law administrator following Justice Sayem's elevation to the presidency on 19 November 1976. He tried to integrate the armed forces, giving repatriates a status appropriate to their qualifications and seniority. While this angered some veterans of the independence war, who had rapidly reached high positions following independence in 1971, Zia sent discontented officers on diplomatic missions abroad to defuse unrest..

President of Bangladesh

Ziaur Rahman became the 7th President of Bangladesh on 21 April 1977. Years of disorder from the previous political administration of the Awami League and BAKSAL had left most of Bangladesh's state institutions in disarray, with constant internal and external threats. Assuming full control of the state, Zia lifted martial law and introduced massive reforms for the development of the country.

In late September 1977, a group of Japanese Red Army terrorists hijacked an aeroplane and forced it to land in Dhaka. On 30 September, while the attention of the government was riveted on this event, a mutiny broke out in Bogra. Although the mutiny was quickly quelled on the night of 2 October, a second mutiny started in Dhaka, led by disgruntled airmen of Bangladesh Air Force (BAF). The mutineers unsuccessfully attacked Zia's residence, captured Dhaka Radio for a short time and killed a good number of air force officers and airmen at Tejgaon International Airport, where they were gathered for negotiations with the hijackers. Wing Commander M. Hamidullah Khan BP (Sector Commander Bangladesh Defense Forces Sector 11), then BAF Ground Defense Commander, quickly put down the rebellion within the Air Force, but the government was severely shaken. Chief of Air Staff AVM AG Mahmud reappointed Wing Commander Hamidullah as Provost Marshal of BAF. Government intelligence had failed and Zia promptly dismissed the DGFI chief, AVM Aminul Islam Khan BAF, of 9th GD(P) formerly of PAF, and also the DG-NSI. In the aftermath at least 200 soldiers involved in the coup attempt were executed following a secret trial, prompting some critics to call Zia "ruthless".

The size of Bangladesh police forces was doubled and the number of soldiers of the army increased from 50,000 to 90,000. In 1978 he appointed Hussain Muhammad Ershad as the new Chief of Army Staff, promoting him to the rank of Lieutenant General. He was viewed as a professional soldier with no political aspirations (because of his imprisonment in former West Pakistan during the Bangladesh War of Independence) who possessed a soft corner for India. Quietly Ershad rose to become Zia's close politico-military counsellor. In 1981 he brought back Mujib's daughter Hasina Wazed to Bangladesh.

Elections

Zia re-introduced multi-party politics In 1978, General Zia ran for and an overwhelmingly won a five-year term as President. The next year elections were held for the National Assembly. Opponents questioned the integrity of the elections. He allowed Sheikh Hasina, the exiled daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to return to Bangladesh in 1981.

Domestic and foreign policies

On taking power, Zia was "hailed as the strict leader that the struggling nation needed". Bangladesh suffered from illiteracy, severe poverty, chronic unemployment, shortages and economic stagnation. Zia reversed course from his predecessor Mujib's secular, democratic socialist, pro-Indian policies. Zia announced a "19-point programme" of economic emancipation which emphasised self-reliance, rural development, decentralisation, free markets and population control. Zia spent much of his time travelling throughout the country, preaching the "politics of hope" and urging Bangladeshis to work harder and to produce more. He held cabinet meetings all across Bangladesh. Zia focused on boosting agricultural and industrial production, especially in food and grains, and to integrate rural development through a variety of programmes, of which population planning was the most important. He introduced and opened the Bangladesh Jute and Rice research institutes. He launched an ambitious rural development program in 1977, which included a highly visible and popular food-for-work program. He promoted private sector development, exports growth and the reversing of the collectivisation of farms. His government reduced quotas and restrictions on agriculture and industrial activities. Zia launched major projects to construct irrigation canals, power stations, dams, roads and other public works. Directing his campaign to mobilise rural support and development, Zia established Gram Sarkar (Village Councils) system of self-government and the "Village Defence Party" system of security and crime prevention. Programmes to promote primary and adult education on a mass scale were initiated and focused mainly across rural Bangladesh. During this period, Bangladesh's economy achieved fast economic and industrial growth.

Zia began reorienting Bangladesh's foreign policy, addressing the concerns of the mostly staunch rightists coupled with some renegade leftist who believed that Bangladesh was reliant on Indian economic and military aid. Zia moved away from India and the Soviet bloc, his predecessors' had worked with, developing closer relations with the United States and Western Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Zia also moved to harmonise ties with Saudi Arabia and the People's Republic of China, Pakistan's ally who had opposed Bangladesh's creation and had not recognised it until 1975. Zia moved to normalise relations with Pakistan. While distancing Bangladesh from India, Zia sought to improve ties with other Islamic nations. Zia's move towards Islamic state policies improved the nation's standing in the Middle East. Zia also proposed an organisation of the nations of South Asia to bolster economic and political co-operation at a regional level. This proposal materialised in 1985 under the Presidency of Hussain Muhammad Ershad with the first meeting of the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation in Dhaka. Zia's vision has earned him a posthumous award from the organisation.

Islam and nationalism

Zia believed that a massive section of the population was suffering from an identity crisis, both religious and as a people, with a very limited sense of sovereignty. To remedy this he began a re-Islamisation of Bangladesh. He issued a proclamation order amending the constitution, under whose basis laws would be set in an effort to increase the self-knowledge of religion and nation. In the preamble, he inserted the salutation "Bismillahir-Rahmaanir-Rahim" ("In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful"). In Article 8(1) and 8(1A) the statement "absolute trust and faith in Almighty Allah"' was added, replacing the socialist religious free commitment to secularism. Socialism was redefined as "economic and social justice" under his leadership. In Article 25(2), Zia introduced the principle that '"the state shall endeavour to consolidate, preserve and strengthen fraternal relations among Muslim countries based on Islamic solidarity.". Some intellectuals accuse Zia of changing the nature of the republic from the secularism laid out by Sheikh Mujib and his supporters. However, critics of this accusation say the rationale is absurd and an oversimplification since secular leaders like Gamal Abdel Nasser and Ahmed Ben Bella adopted this policy, and that religious slogans and symbolism are also used by the Awami League.

Later Ershad introduced Islamic religious education as a compulsory subject in Bangladeshi schools, with provisions for non-Muslim students to learn of their own religions. At the birth of Bangladesh, many Islamists had supported the Pakistani Army's fight against independence and been barred from politics with the Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order of 1972. Zia undid this as well as the ban on communal parties and associations.

In public speeches and policies that he formulated, Zia began expounding "Bangladesh Nationalism", its "Sovereignty", as opposed to Mujib's assertion of a Bengali identity based under language- based nationalism. Zia emphasised the national role of Islam as guide to life's principle. Claiming to promote an inclusive national identity, Zia reached out to non-Bengali minorities such as the Santals, Garos, Manipuris and Chakmas, as well as the Urdu-speaking peoples of Bihari origin. He even amended the constitution to change the nationality of the citizens from Bengali, an ethnic identity, to Bangladeshi, a national identity, under sovereign allegiance not political belief or party affiliation. However, Bangladeshi nationalism excluded the country's non-Muslim minorities, particularly the Hindu community.

After the formation of Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 1978, Zia took initiative for formation of political institutes and sponsored workshops for the youth to get active political lessons on Bangladesh nationalism. In such a workshop in September 1980, Zia spoke to the learners.

Indemnity Act

Zia enacted several controversial measures, some to discipline the army, some to solidify his power and some to win the support of right wing political groups such as the Jamaat-e-Islami. Zia also facilitated the comeback of the Muslim League and other Islamic parties, appointed the highly controversial anti-independence figure Shah Azizur Rahman (who was earlier released from jail by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1973) prime minister.

Zia gave foreign appointments to several men accused of assassinating Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Major Dalim, Major Rashid, and Major Faruk were given jobs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in subsequent years they were appointed ambassadors of Bangladesh to African and Middle Eastern nations.

The Indemnity Ordinance (which gave immunity from legal action to the persons involved in the assassination of president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, coups and other political events between 1975 and 1979) was proclaimed by Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad in 1975 president, ratified in the Parliament as the Indemnity Act, and incorporated as the 5th amendment to the constitution during the tenure of President Hussain Muhammad Ershad.

Assassination

During his term of power, Zia was criticised for ruthless treatment of his army opposition. Although he enjoyed overall popularity and public confidence, Zia's rehabilitation of some of the most controversial men in Bangladesh aroused fierce opposition from the supporters of the Awami League and veterans of its Mukti Bahini. Amidst speculation and fears of unrest, Zia went on tour to Chittagong on 29 May 1981 to help resolve an intra-party political dispute in the regional BNP. Zia and his entourage stayed overnight at the Chittagong Circuit House. In the early hours of the morning of 30 May, he was assassinated by a group of army officers. Also killed were six of his bodyguards and two aides.

Nearly two million people are estimated to have attended the funeral held at the Parliament Square.

Criticism and legacy

Ziaur Rahman's status as war hero is acknowledged by many politicians in Bangladesh. However his role after 15 August 1975 15 August 1975 assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family remains controversial. The Indemnity Act, an ordinance ordered by Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad in 1975 pardoning the subsequently convicted killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was legalised by Zia during his tenure as president. Some killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family were sent abroad during his time as president. In a verdict passed on the Dhaka High Court declared the seizures of power by military coups between 1975 and 1979, including Zia's military regime as "unlawful and unconstitutional." Zia's martial law decrees, his ascendancy to the presidency in 1977 and the referendum held in 1978 were declared "unknown to the constitution." The court ruling over-ruled the Indemnity Act by which these very events were accorded a legal status and enshrined in the constitution. Zia is credited for ending the disorder of the final years of Sheikh Mujib's rule and establishing democracy by abolishing BAKSHAL (One party rule established by Mujib). On the other hand, Zia is assailed by his critics for suppressing opposition. However, Zia's economic reforms are credited with rebuilding the economy and his move towards Islamisation brought him the support of ordinary Bangladesh people. His nationalist vision also appealed to many who resented the other political parties alleged inclination towards India and the Soviet Union. Moving away from Mujib's secularism, Zia asserted an Islamic political identity for Bangladesh and of membership in the wider community of Muslim nations, which was applauded by the general masses. However, these measures also isolated and embittered many ethnic and religious minorities in Bangladesh, in the opinion of many historians laying the foundations of future communal and ethnic conflicts. However, critics of this view point out that this is an oversimplification, and Zia alone cannot be held responsible. It is generally acknowledged that he lived a simple life, which included opting to have his food supplied from the army canteen.

Family

Ziaur Rahman was survived by his wife Begum Khaleda Zia and his son Tareq Rahman. He had another son, the late Arafat Rahman. Begum Khaleda Zia became the head of the BNP and organised a coalition of political parties opposed to Ershad's regime. In elections held in 1991, Begum Khaleda Zia led the BNP to victory and became prime minister. She lost the 1996 elections to the Awami League's Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, but returned to power in 2001. Tareq Rahman serves as BNP senior joint secretary, regarded by many as the architect of the BNP's 2001 election victory.

Honors

Zia has been the namesake of many public institutions, such as formerly the Zia International Airport in Dhaka, which is the busiest airport in the nation. Turkey has named an important road in Ankara as Ziaur Rahman Caddesi after his death to honour him. Zia was also honoured by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation for his statesmanship and vision. Other honors include: