Ziaur Rahman (Bengali: জিয়াউর রহমান) (January 19, 1936 - May 30, 1981), Bir Uttam, was the seventh President of Bangladesh. A highly decorated and accomplished military officer, he retired from the Bangladesh Army as a Lieutenant General. He was the first sector and brigade commander of the Bangladeshi Forces during Bangladeshs War of Independence in 1971. After the war was over, Zia became involved in politics and later became the President of the country. As a Military ruler, he first found a party called JAGODAL but he himself did not become a member of it. Then he found the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), one of the two largest political parties in the country. He ruled Bangladesh as President for 4 years and 39 days (April 21, 1977 - May 30, 1981) until his assassination. NEW DELHI, Saturday, May 30— President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh was killed today in the southern city of Chittagong, the Bangladesh radio reported. He was 45. It was believed here that General Zia died in an accident, but there was no immediate confirmation. The Press Trust of India, a news agency, reported from Dacca, the Bangladesh capital, that the announcement was made in a special broadcast, but the circumstances of the Presidents death were not given. According the radio, Vice President Abdus Sattar took over as acting President. Reports said a 40-day period of national mourning had been announced by the Bangladesh Government. Communications between Dacca and Calcutta were cut off. President Zia seized power soon after Sheik Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence from Pakistan in 1971, was assassinated Aug. 15, 1975. ---- A Strict Leader By LES LEDBETTER When Maj. Gen. Ziaur Rahman seized power in Bangladesh six years ago, he was hailed as the strict leader that struggling nation needed. After the coup that gave him the presidency, soft-spoken military man was described as hard-working and incorruptible in his personal life and able to make the tough decisiions needed to lift the new nation to its feet. Some critics even called General Zia ruthless because he was unfazed by the secret trial and execution of at least 200 soldiers who tried to overthrow him in October 1977. He told an interviewer, however, that his type of rule was necessary in Bangladesh, which broke away from Pakistan in 1971. And even his critics acknowledged that he seeemed to be making headway against the problems of overpopulation and poverty in his country. Urged Population Control Shortly after the coup that brought him to power in 1975, General Zia began making unpopular statements, such as Population control must be our nations No. 1 priority and Bangladesh must feed itself and stop depending on the world for help. Contrary to his predecessors, the general eliminated much of the politics in the civil service and began streamlining state industries. Inflation went down and food production went up. Born in the northwestern city of Bogra on Jan. 19, 1936, he joined the army when he was 17. In the late 1960s he grew increasingly sympathetic with Bengali nationalism, and in March 1971, after a Pakistani crackdown on civilians, it was Ziaur Rahman, then a regimental commander in the port city of Chittagong, who declared the independence of Bangladesh. In that radio broadcast, he indicated that he would be President of the new country. But soon he had to yield that power to Sheik Mujibur Rahman, a flamboyant leader who became his enemy. In the war with Pakistan that followed the declaration of independence, Ziaur Rahman, then a lieutenant colonel, commanded a brigade that became known as the Z Force. And he acquired a reputation for icy bravery. General Zia had just been fired as army Chief of Staff in 1975 when he took power after the assassination of Sheik Mujib. Moshtaque Ahmed, who had seized the presidency in a coup three months earlier, had tried to strip General Zia of his power and that caused the military to move against him. In 1978, General Zia ran for a five-year term as President. He won overwhelmingly, although opponents said the voting was rigged.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 16:33:44 +0000
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