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Ziaur
Rahman with His Wife
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There
is a popular saying in Bangladesh, 'Develop your life
in a way that you will smile when you die and the rest
of the world will cry'. Ziaur Rahman had developed his
life in that way.
Shaheed Ziaur Rahman is seen with his wife Begum Khaleda
Zia who had to come to politics after the shocking assassination
of her husband, the most beloved statesman of Bangladesh. |
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Shaheed
President Ziaur Rahman was a legandary Islamic hero of Bangladesh
who declared the Independence of Bangladesh. Ziaur Rahman was born
on l9 January 1936 at Bagbari in Bogra. His father Mansur Rahman was
a chemist working in a government department in Calcutta. His early
childhood was spent partly in the rural area of Bogra and partly in
Calcutta. After the partition of India (1947), when his father was
transferred to Karachi, Zia had to leave the Hare School in Calcutta
and became a student of the Academy School in Karachi. He completed
his secondary education from that School in 1952. In 1953, he got
himself admitted into the D.J. College in Karachi. In the same year
he joined the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul as an officer cadet.
Shahid Ziaur Rahman was commissioned in 1955 as a second lieutenant.
He served there for two years, and in 1957, he was transferred to
East Bengal Regiment. He also worked in the military intelligence
department from 1959 to 1964. In the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 he
made his mark as a valiant fighter in the Khemkaran sector as the
commander of a company, and incidentally, his company was one of those
which were offered maximum gallantry awards for heroic performances
in the war. He was appointed a professional instructor in the Pakistan
Military Academy in 1966. In the same year he was sent to the Staff
College in Quetta for attending a command course. In 1969, he joined
the Second East Bengal Regiment as its second-in-command at Joydevpur.
He was sent to West Germany for higher training. On his return home
in 1970 Ziaur Rahman, then a major, was transferred to Eighth East
Bengal Regiment at Chittagong as its second in command.
After the military crackdown since the night of 25 March 1971 SHEIKH
MUJIBUR RAHMAN was arrested and the political leaders dispersed. The
people were at a loss. At this crucial moment when the political leadership
failed to give any direction, the Eighth East Bengal Regiment under
the leadership of Major Ziaur Rahman revolted against the Pakistan
Army and took up the Bangladesh flag as its mainstay on the night
between 26 and 27 March 1971. Then he took up the momentous decision
of declaring the Independence of Bangladesh. Ziaur Rahman and his
troops were in the forefront of the War of Independence. Major Zia
and the armed forces under his command kept the Chittagong and Noakhali
areas under control for a few days and went across the border for
further preparations.
Ziaur Rahman played a brilliant role in the War of Liberation both
at the level of planning and execution. As the commander of Sector
I up to June 1971, later on as the head of Z-Force, Ziaur Rahman distinguished
himself as a brave warrior and was offered the gallantry award of
Bir Uttam.
After the most creditable performances during the nine-month war,
he was appointed brigade commander in Comilla. In June 1972, he was
made Deputy Chief of Staff of the armed forces of Bangladesh. In the
middle of 1973, he became a Brigadier, and a Major General by the
end of the year. When Khondakar Moshtaq Ahmad assumed the office of
the presidency, Ziaur Rahman became the chief of army staff on 25
August 1975. When Khaled Mosharraf with the support of the Dhaka Brigade
under the command of Shafat Jamil staged a coup d'etat on 3 November
1975, Ziaur Rahman was forced to resign his command and was put under
house arrest. The Sepoy-Janata Biplob of 7 November, however, took
him to the centre of political power. In fact, he had to assume the
responsibility of managing the affairs of Bangladesh on the crest
of the Sepoy-Janata Biplob.
On 7 November 1975, Ziaur Rahman was proclaimed the Chief Martial
Law Administrator. In a meeting at the army headquarters on the same
day, a new administrative set-up for the running of an interim government
was arranged with Justice Sayem as the Chief Martial Law Administrator
and the three service chiefs, Major General Zia, Air Vice Marshal
MG Tawab and Rear Admiral MH Khan, as Deputy Chief Martial Law Administrators.
Ziaur Rahman became Chief Martial Law Administrator on 19 November
1976, when Justice Sayem relinquished his position and ultimately,
the President of Bangladesh on 21 April 1977, when President Sayem
resigned.
After assuming office as head of the state Ziaur Rahman issued a proclamation
order amending the Constitution to insert Bismiliah-ir-Rahmanir Rahim
(In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful) in the Preamble
of the Constitution. In Article 8(1) and 8(1A) the principle of 'absolute
trust and faith in the Almighty Allah has been added. In Article 8(1),
socialism has been defined as 'economic and social justice'. In Article
25(2) it has also been provided that "the state shall endeavour to
consolidate, preserve and strengthen fraternal relations among Muslim
countries based on Islamic solidarity."
Ziaur Rahman introduced and popularised the new concept of Bangladeshi
nationalism. He believed that in a plural society like Bangladesh
where people are of diverse ethnicity and where they profess different
faiths, have different cultural traits and various lifestyles, nationalism
should better be conceptualised in terms of territory rather than
language or culture. This is what he emphasised upon. Bangladeshi
nationalism took firm root and shape as a unifying force with its
emphasis on national unity and integration of all citizens of Bangladesh
irrespective of caste, creed, gender, culture, religion and ethnicity.
Assuming power, Zia immediately moved to restore law and order in
the country and for the purpose strengthened the police force, practically
doubling its size from 40,000 to 70,000 and arranging for their proper
training. He also restored order in the armed forces. For the purpose,
he took certain steps for the development of professionalism in them
through rigorous training and restoring discipline. He expanded their
strength substantially from less than 50,000 in 1974-75 to about 90,000
in 1976-77. Although Zia was successful in restoring discipline within
the armed forces, he had to confront a number of mutinies and attempted
coups forcing him to adopt certain stern actions against those who
had taken part in those uprisings.
A believer in democracy Zia moved as fast as he could to democratise
the polity by re-instituting the institution of election either for
enabling a political party to assume power or for transferring it
to other political party peacefully. As a first step, that is why,
he allowed the disbanded political parties to be revived and political
activities to be carried on once again. Having that in view, he also
disallowed the ban on the newspapers and inaugurated the free flow
of news by making the news media free. For the same purpose, he re
-instituted the independence of judiciary as the bulwark of rights
of the people. The prevailing situation persuaded him to take part
in active politics so that he could establish democratic order in
the country. In February 1978 he floated Jatiyatabadi Ganatantric
Dal with Vice President Justice Abdus Sattar as its head. Zia himself
became the nominee of the Nationalist Front consisting of six political
parties in the presidential election. He won a comprehensive victory
by securing 76.67% of the votes.
On 1 September 1978, a new political party, BANGLADESH NATIONALIST
PARTY (BNP), was launched with Zia as its chairman. The parliamentary
elections were held in February 1979 and BNP won 207 seats out of
300. On 1 April 1979, the first session of the JATIYA SANGSAD was
convened. On 9 April, martial law was lifted after the enactment of
the Fifth Amendment.
President Zia's dynamic economic policy laid emphasis on private sector
development. A new development strategy designed to encourage the
private entrepreneurs, both local and foreign, and to promote agricultural
development through massive subsidies to the farmers was initiated.
The process of handing over nationalised industries to their former
owners began. Promotion of export of conventional and non-conventional
goods became a national priority. Food production reached a new height
and Bangladesh began exporting rice.
To bring in dynamism in his action plan Zia put forward a 19-point
programme, and that was designed to bring rapid socio-economic transformation
in the country. The main thrust of the programme was self-reliance
and rural uplift through people's participation. Its primary objectives
were accelerated agricultural growth, population control, self-sufficiency
in food, decentralisation of administration and greater incentives
to the private sector. It was designed to meet the basic needs of
the people and special needs of women, youths and workers, and it
aimed at establishing a political order based on social justice.
For bringing rapid socio-economic transformation in the country, President
Zia transformed the politics of the country into a production-oriented
one. He chalked out programmes of action for the purpose, terming
these as revolutions and motivated his party men to realise those
programmes through their devotion and commitment. The first of those
was canal digging, and it was designed to supply adequate water to
the farmers, especially during the lean season. The second was to
remove illiteracy from the society so that an air of enlightenment
might prevail all around using both formal and non-formal techniques
all over the country. Moreover, motivational programmes were set on
for the enhancement of productions both in the field and factories.
The initiation of FAMILY PLANNING programme, revolutionary as it was,
was designed to stabilise population at a level which might be termed
as optimum from the economic point of view. The institution of Gram
Sarker aimed at enlisting the support of the people for a self-reliant
Bangladesh, which president Zia advocated. Zia began executing his
programme in right earnest and beneficial results were in sight. The
excavation and re-excavation of more than 1,500 canals in a year and
a half, record production of food grains in two successive years (1976-77
and 1977-78), an average annual GDP growth of 6.4% during 1975-78,
a vigorous mass education campaign, introduction of village government
(Gram Sarkar) and Village Defence Party (VDP) made deep impression
in the minds of the people.
Having the objectives of establishing good neighbourly relations with
India and other South Asian countries on equal footing Zia started
bringing in changes first at the internal setting through resurgence
of nationalistic aspirations of the people and then by stabilising
countervailing forces at the regional and international levels.
The foreign policy goals were thus devised anew, and dynamic international
relations were set on with a view to preventing Bangladesh from hurtling
down to the abyss of dependence. At the regional level, Bangladesh
developed a pattern of mutuality with such states as Pakistan, Nepal,
Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Maldives along with India so much so that it
ultimately led to the forging of regional co-operation in the region
for the first time in its history.
At the international level, Bangladesh, then a lonely sojourner, picked
up friends from both the right, centre and left and established a
kind of viable comradeship amongst them. Bangladesh was lifted from
the dead end of the Indo-Soviet axis and Indian hegemonic circle.
Bangladesh came closer to the Muslim world of more than fifty states,
which began to take fresh look at Bangladesh and its problems. One
of the superpowers of the time became a good friend of Bangladesh,
though its role was not people-friendly during the Liberation War.
Bangladesh developed a good working relation with China. South East
Asian countries were drawn closer. The distant Europe remained no
longer disinterested in the affairs of Bangladesh.
Through certain creative moves, he drew Bangladesh into the world
of the liberal west, the fraternal middle East and West Asia, and
the rising South East Asia. He attended many international conferences
and visited dozens of countries to promote the cause of the nation's
multilateral and bilateral relations. The dividend was rich. Bangladesh
was elected to the Security Council in one of its non-permanent seats
in 1978, and became actively involved in the activities of the UN
members. In the middle East and West Asia Bangladesh emerged as a
forceful actor. It was President Zia who conceived of the idea of,
and initiated actions for, regional co-operation is South Asia. For
the purpose, he visited these countries during 1979-80 to speak of
the need to develop a framework for mutual co-operation. SOUTH ASIAN
ASSOCIATION FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION (SAARC) was the outcome of his
efforts, which was formally launched in Dhaka in 1985. Zia did not
survive to see his dream come true. He was assassinated in Chittagong
on 30 May 1981 in an abortive army coup. He lies buried at Sher-e-Banglanagar,
Dhaka.
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