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For other uses, see Ziaur Rahman (disambiguation).

His Excellency Lieutenant-General

Ziaur Rahman

Bir Uttom

জিয়াউর রহমান

Rahman in 1979 in the Netherlands

President of Bangladesh

In office

21 April 1977 – 30 May 1981

Mashiur Rahman (Acting)
Prime Minister
Shah Azizur Rahman

Vice President Abdus Sattar

Preceded by Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem

Succeeded by Abdus Sattar
Chairman Of Bangladesh Nationalist Party

In office

01 September 1978 – 30 May 1981

Preceded by Post Established

Succeeded by Abdus Sattar

Chief of Army Staff

In office

24 August 1975 – 3 November 1975

Preceded by K M Shafiullah

Succeeded by Khaled Mosharraf

In office

7 November 1975 – 1 December 1978

Preceded by Khaled Mosharraf

Succeeded by Hussain Muhammad Ershad

Personal details

Born 19 January 1936

Bagbari, Bengal Presidency, British India

Died 30 May 1981 (aged 45)

Chittagong, Bangladesh

Cause of death Assassination

Nationality British India (1936-1947), Pakistan (1947-

1971), Bangladesh (1971-1981)

Political party Bangladesh Nationalist Party

Khaleda Zia (m. 1960–1981)
Spouse(s)

Children Tarique Rahman

Arafat Rahman

Mother Jahanara Khatun

Father Mansur Rahman

Alma mater D. J. Science College

 Pakistan Military Academy

Command and Staff College

Profession Military officer, politician

Awards Full list

Military service

Allegiance  Pakistan (before 1971)

 Bangladesh

Branch/service  Pakistan Army (1955-1971)

 Bangladesh Army (1971-1978)

Years of service 1955–1971 (Pakistan)

1971–1978[1] (Bangladesh)

Rank Lieutenant General,[2] Service number: BA-69[3]

Unit East Bengal Regiment

Commands Brigade Commander of Z Force

BDF Commander of the Sector 1

BDF Commander of the Sector 11

This article contains Bengali

text. Without proper rendering
support, you may see question
marks, boxes, or other symbols.

Ziaur Rahman ([ji-yaur rôhman]; 19 January 1936 – 30 May 1981),[4] was the Chief of

Army Staff,[5] who served the President of Bangladesh during 1977–1981. He was
assassinated on 30 May 1981 in Chittagong in an army coup d'état.[6]
Rahman was a Bangladesh Forces Commander of BDF Sector BDF Sector 1 initially,
and from June as BDF commander of BDF Sector 11 of the Bangladesh Forces and the
Brigade Commander of Z Force from mid-July during the country's Independence
war from Pakistan in 1971. He originally broadcast the Bangladesh declaration of
independence on 27 March from Kalurghat radio station in Chittagong. After the war of
Independence, Rahman became a brigade commander in Bangladesh Army, later the
deputy chief of staff and Chief of staff of Bangladesh Army.[7] His ascent to leadership of
the country resulted from a conspiracy that had begun with the killing of Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman, the founding president of Bangladesh, in a military coup d'état followed by a
coups and counter-revolt within the military to gain control at the helm. Ziaur Rahman
gained de facto power as head of the government already under martial law imposed by
the Mushtaq government. He took over the presidency in 1977.
As President in 1978, Rahman founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (popularly
known by its abbreviation BNP). He reinstated multi-party politics, freedom of the press,
free speech and free markets and accountability. He initiated mass irrigation and food
production programmes, including social programmes to uplift the lives of the people.
He initiated and founded the first Asian regional group known as SAARC. He improved
Bangladesh's relations with the West and China, and departed from Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman's close alignment with India and the Soviet Union. Domestically, Rahman
faced as many as twenty-one coup attempts for which trails were setup and many
soldiers and officers of the Bangladesh Armed Forces were executed which were
mostly claimed to be biased and false trails. He was criticised for passing the Indemnity
Act and removing the ban on religion-based political parties.
Rahman was awarded two gallantry awards for two wars fought in South Asia. Hilal-i-
Jurat for the Indo-Pak War in 1965, and Bir Uttom in 1972 for the Bangladesh
Independence war 1971 for his wartime contributions. [8][9] According to the 1986
book Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood written by Anthony Mascarenhas, Rahman retired
from the Bangladesh Army as a Lt. General (promoted by himself) in 1978 with effect
from 28 April.[3][page  needed][4]
The political party he formed in 1978, the BNP, became one of the two dominant
political parties of Bangladesh. His wife Khaleda Zia, a former prime minister, is the
current chairperson of the BNP.

Contents

 1Early life
 2Military career in Pakistan
 3Pre-Independence
 4Bangladesh War of Independence 1971
 5Assassination of Mujib in 1975 and its aftermath
 6President of Bangladesh
o 6.1Elections
o 6.2Domestic and foreign policies
o 6.3Islam and nationalism
o 6.4Indemnity Act
 7Assassination
 8Criticism and legacy
o 8.1Family
o 8.2Honours
 9References
 10Further reading
 11External links

Early life[edit]
Rahman, nicknamed Komol, was born in Gabtoli, Bogra to Mansur Rahman and
Jahanara Khatun. Mansur was a chemist who specialised in paper and ink chemistry
and worked for a government department at Writer's Building in Kolkata. Rahman was
raised at Bagbari village in Bogra and studied in Bogra Zilla School.[10] He had two
younger brothers, Ahmed Kamal (d. 2017)[11] and Khalilur Rahman (d. 2014).[12]
In 1946, Mansur enrolled Rahman for a short stint in a boys school of Calcutta, Hare
School, where he studied until the dissolution of the British Empire in India and partition
of India and Pakistan in 1947. Mansur Rahman exercised his option to become a citizen
of a Muslim majority Pakistan and in August 1947 moved to Karachi [13] 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. Rahman spent his adolescent
years in Karachi and by age 16 completed his secondary education from that School in
1952.
In 1953, Rahman 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.
In August 1960, his marriage was arranged to Khaleda Khanam Putul, [14][15] the 15-year-
old daughter of Iskandar Majumder and Taiyaba Majumder from the Feni District (part of
then Noakhali District). Khaleda Khanam Putul, later known as Khaleda Zia, went on
serve as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh three times.[16][17] Rahman, a captain in the
then Pakistan Army who was posted at that time as an Officer of the Defence Forces.
[18]
 His father, Mansur Rahman could not attend the marriage ceremony, [19][page  needed] as he
was in Karachi. Zia's mother had died earlier.

Military career in Pakistan[edit]

Graduating from the Pakistan Military Academy at 12th PMA long course [20] on 18
September 1955 in the top 10%[13] of his class, 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. [4]
Rahman 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,[13] but 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.[21]
Ayub Khan's highly successful military rule from 1958 to 1968 convinced Rahman of the
need for a fundamental change in the Bengali attitude towards the military. During the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Rahman saw combat in the Khemkaran sector in Punjab as
the commander of a company unit of 100–150 soldiers. Rahman was awarded Hilal-i-
Jur'at for gallantry by the Pakistan government[22] medal, Pakistan's second highest
military award, and the first Battalion of the East Bengal Regiment (EBR) under which
he fought won 3 Sitara-e-Jurat (Star of Courage) medals, and 8 Tamgha-e-Jurat (Medal
of Courage) medals, for their role in the 1965 War with India. [23] In 1966, Rahman 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. Rahman helped raise two Bengali battalions called the
8th and 9th Bengals[13] during his stint as instructor. Around the same time, his wife
Khaleda Zia, now 24, gave birth to their first child Tarique Rahman on 20 November
1966. Rahman 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 [21] and later
spent a few months with the British Army.[4]

Pre-Independence[edit]
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Rahman 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.[21] 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 its 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[edit]

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.
Rahman and Khaleda Zia on a state visit in the Netherlands in 1979 (in the background, Prince Claus)

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 Declaration of Independence on 27 March 1971
from Kalurghat, Chittagong, which read:[24][25][26][self-published source?][27][page  needed][28][29]
I, Major Ziaur Rahman, Provincial Head of the government, do hereby declare that
Independence of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.
Later on the same day (27 March), 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, Rahman talked about his 27 March
announcement.[30]
Rahman 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 he was transferred to Teldhala where he organised and created Sector
11. All sectors were restructured officially under Bangladesh Forces as the sector in
the Chittagong and Hill Tracts area, under Colonel M. A. G. Osmani, the Supreme
Commander of Bangladesh Forces, of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh
which had its headquarters on Theatre Road, Calcutta in India. On 30 July 1971
Rahman 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. His
brigade consisted of 1st, 3rd and 8th East Bengali regiments, [31] enabling Rahman to
launch major attacks on Pakistani forces. With the Z Force, Rahman "acquired a
reputation for icy bravery" according to The New York Times,[9] 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[edit]

Rahman delivering a speech at a public conference before 1979

A deep conspiracy and pre motive of removing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from the helm
was well under way long before his assassination by outside forces and internal
collaborators within Bangladesh. On 15 August 1975 President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
and his family were assassinated in a gun fight with army personnel. One of Mujibur
Rahman's cabinet ministers and a leading conspirator Khondaker Mostaq
Ahmad gained the presidency and dismissed Major General K M Shafiullah, appointed
Major General Ziaur Rahman (then deputy chief of army staff) as army chief of staff.
However, the coup of 15 August caused a period of instability and unrest in Bangladesh
and amongst the rank and file of the armed forces. Brigadier Khaled Mosharraf and the
46th Brigade of Dhaka Cantonment under Colonel Shafat Jamil revolted
against Khandaker Mushtaq Ahmed's administration on 3 November 1975, and Ziaur
Rahman was forced to relinquish his post and put under house arrest. Hidden forces out
of the dark came out of the woods in attempting to place a puppet administration in
power. Instability, confusion and uncertainty with a dark atmosphere loomed over the
major parts of the country. 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.[32] Khaled
Mosharraf was killed and Colonel Jamil arrested, while Rahman was freed by the 2nd
Artillery regiment under Lt. Col. Rashid and re-appointed him as army chief of staff with
full support of the entire rank and file of the army.
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.[21] However, discipline in the army had totally collapsed and it was difficult
to disarm the soldiers and put them back to the barracks. Rahman realised that the
disorder by the mutiny had to be suppressed firmly if discipline was to be restored in
the Bangladesh Army. Rahman cracked down on the JSD and Gonobahini. Abu Taher
was sentenced to death in July 1976 and other party figures had various terms of
imprisonment slapped on them.[33] Taher was executed on 21 July 1976. Rahman
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, Rahman sent discontented officers on diplomatic
missions abroad to defuse unrest.[34]

President of Bangladesh[edit]

Mercedes Benz used by Zia Rahman when he was the army chief of staff.

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. After becoming president in 1977, Rahman lifted martial law and introduced
massive reforms for the development of the country. [35]
In late September 1977, a failed coup-de-ta against the Zia Administration occurred. A
group of Japanese Red Army terrorists hijacked Japan Airlines Flight
472 from India armed with weapons and ammunition and forced it to land in Tejgaon
International Airport. On 30 September, while the attention of the government was
riveted on this crisis situation, due to spreading of panic and disinformation actions went
under way in Bogra Cantonment where a revolt broke out. Although the revolt was
quickly quelled on the night of 2 October, another revolt started in Dhaka cantonment,
led by misinformed airmen of Bangladesh Air Force (BAF). Armed group among this
group of army and air force personnel unsuccessfully attacked Zia's residence, captured
Dhaka Radio for a short time and killed eleven(11) air force officers and 30 airmen at
Tejgaon International Airport, where they were gathered for negotiations with the
hijackers. Wing Commander M. Hamidullah Khan BP (BDF Commander Bangladesh
Forces Sector 11), then BAF Ground Defence Commander, quickly put down the
rebellion within the Air Force, while the government was severely shaken. Chief of Air
Staff AVM AG Mahmud reappointed Wing Commander Hamidullah Khan as Provost
Marshal of BAF. President Zia immediately appointed Wing Commander Hamidullah
Khan as ZMLA (Dhaka) and Director of Martial Law Communications and Control at
Tejgaon (present day PM's Office). Government intelligence had failed and President
Rahman promptly dismissed the DG-NSI and the DFI chief, Air Cdre Aminul Islam Khan
BAF, of 9th GD(P) formerly of Pakistan Air Force, and also the . Hamidullah initiated the
transfer of DFI under the ministry of defence from old Bailey Road office to Dhaka
Cantonment under direct control of the president. In the aftermath at least 200 soldiers
involved in the coup attempt were executed following a military trial, prompting some
critics to call Ziaur Rahman "ruthless". [9]
The size of Bangladesh police forces was doubled and the number of soldiers of the
army increased from 50,000 to 90,000. [21] 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 Sheikh Hasina to
Bangladesh.[36]
Elections[edit]
In 1978, General Rahman 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.[9][37] He allowed Sheikh Hasina, the exiled
daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to return to Bangladesh in 1981.
Domestic and foreign policies[edit]
On taking power, Rahman was "hailed as the strict leader that the struggling nation
needed".[9] Bangladesh suffered from illiteracy, severe poverty, chronic unemployment,
shortages and economic stagnation. Rahman reversed course from his predecessor
Mujib's secular, democratic socialist, pro-Indian policies. Rahman announced a "19-
point programme" of economic emancipation which emphasised self-reliance, rural
development, decentralisation, free markets and population control. Rahman 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.[38] Rahman 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 programme in 1977, which included a highly visible and
popular food-for-work programme.[38] 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. [39] Rahman launched major
projects to construct irrigation canals, power stations, dams, roads and other public
works. Directing his campaign to mobilise rural support and development, Rahman
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.[21]
Rahman 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. Rahman 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.
[38]
 Rahman 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. Rahman moved to normalise relations with Pakistan. While
distancing Bangladesh from India, Rahman sought to improve ties with other Islamic
nations. Zia's move towards Islamic state policies improved the nation's standing in the
Middle East.[21] According to historian Tazeen M. Murshid, one aim of these policies was
to open the Gulf states to manpower exports. In this Zia was successful, and
remittances became an important part of the Bangladeshi economy. [40]
Rahman also proposed an organisation of the nations of South Asia to bolster economic
and political co-operation at a regional level. [21] 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. [41][42]
Islam and nationalism[edit]
Rahman 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. [43] 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 commitment to secularism. Socialism was
redefined as "economic and social justice" under his leadership. [44] In Article 25(2),
Rahman introduced the principle that '"the state shall endeavour to consolidate,
preserve and strengthen fraternal relations among Muslim countries based on Islamic
solidarity."[21] Some intellectuals accuse Rahman of changing the nature of the republic
from the secularism laid out by Sheikh Mujib and his supporters. [44] 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. [45]
Later Rahman introduced Islamic religious education as a compulsory subject for
Muslim schoolchildren.[46] 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. Rahman undid this as well
as the ban on communal parties and associations. [43]
In public speeches and policies that he formulated, Rahman began expounding
"Bangladesh Nationalism," its "Sovereignty," as opposed to Mujib's assertion of
a Bengali identity based under language-based nationalism. [39] Rahman emphasised the
national role of Islam as guide to life's principle. Claiming to promote an inclusive
national identity, Rahman reached out to non-Bengali minorities such as
the Santals, Garos, Manipuris and Chakmas, as well as the Urdu-speaking peoples
of Bihari origin.[citation needed] 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. [39] However, Bangladeshi
nationalism excluded the country's non-Muslim minorities, particularly the Hindu
community.[47]
After the formation of Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 1978, Rahman 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,
Rahman spoke to the learners.[48]
Indemnity Act[edit]
Main article: Indemnity Act, Bangladesh
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A. K. A. Firoze Noon and President Rahman (1979)

Rahman 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.[49] 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 [50]) prime
minister.[51]
Rahman 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, [52] and incorporated as
the 5th amendment to the constitution during the tenure of President Hussain
Muhammad Ershad.[53]

Assassination[edit]
Main article: Assassination of Ziaur Rahman

Chittagong Circuit House

Large processions follow the funeral of Rahman

Mausoleum of Rahman in Chandrima Uddan

During his term of power, Rahman was criticised for ruthless treatment of his army
opposition.[38] 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, Rahman went on tour to Chittagong on 29 May
1981 to help resolve an intra-party political dispute in the regional BNP. Rahman and
his entourage stayed overnight at the Chittagong Circuit House. [54] 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.[55]
Nearly two million people are estimated to have attended the funeral held at the
Parliament Square.[56]

Criticism and legacy[edit]

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Rahman's status as war hero is acknowledged by many politicians in Bangladesh.

[7]
 However his role after 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 Rahman during his tenure as president.
Some killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family were sent abroad during his time
as president.[57] 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. Rahman 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,
Rahman is assailed by his critics for suppressing opposition. [58] Its claimed that around
3,000 army men, military officials and civilians were either killed or got disappeared
during his reign.[59] On one occasion, about 1,143 people were hanged in different
prisons of Bangladesh, on charges of participating in a failed coup attempt on 2 October
1977 [60] However, Zia's economic reforms are credited with rebuilding the economy and
his move towards Islamisation brought him the support of ordinary Bangladesh people.
[58]
 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, Rahman 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 [who?] laying the
foundations of future communal and ethnic conflicts. [citation needed] However, critics of this view
point out that this is an oversimplification, and Rahman alone cannot be held
responsible.[45] It is generally acknowledged that he lived a simple life, which included
opting to have his food supplied from the army canteen. [citation needed]
Family[edit]
With Khaleda Zia, Rahman had two sons, Tareq Rahman and Arafat Rahman (d. 2015).
Khaleda became the head of the BNP and organised a coalition of political parties
opposed to Ershad's regime. In elections held in 1991, she led the BNP to victory and
became prime minister. She lost the 1996 elections to the Awami League's Sheikh
Hasina, but returned to power in 2001. Tareq served as the BNP senior joint secretary
and convicted as the mastermind of 2004 Dhaka grenade attack.[61]
Honours[edit]
Turkey has named a road in Ankara as Ziaur Rahman Caddesi after his death to honour
him.[62] In 2004, Ziaur Rahman was ranked number 20 in BBC's poll of the Greatest
Bengali of all time.[63] Zia was also honoured by the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation for his statesmanship and vision.[41][42] Other honours include:

  Egypt: Order of the Nile[64]

  Yugoslavia: Order of the Yugoslav Star[64]
  North Korea: Hero of the Republic[64]

References[edit]
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Perspective. f Memoirs Publishing. Retrieved 18 April  2015. Following
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presidency and political ambition democratic legitimacy. The National
Assembly of the Republic was brought back to life following general
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ে
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Machine

Further reading[edit]
 Baxter, Craig (1997). Bangladesh from a Nation to a State.
Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-8133-2854-6.
 Mascarenhas, Anthony (1986). Bangladesh: A Legacy of
Blood. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-39420-5.
 Milam, William B. (2009). Bangladesh and Pakistan Flirting
with Failure in South Asia. Columbia University
Press. ISBN 978-0-231-70066-5.

External links[edit]
 Works by or about Ziaur Rahman at Internet Archive
 Ziaur Rahman Biography
  Ziaur Rahman on Virtual Bangladesh
 Saha Ray, Chandan.  জিয়াউর রহমান [Ziaur
Rahman]. Gunijan (in Bengali).
 US State Department Secret Telegram on Bangladesh
Declaration of Independence
 Former US President Jimmy Carter on President Ziaur
Rahman
 Khaleda Zia, the most potential mediator to resolve ME
crisis
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