Hussain Muhammad Ershad Biography
Lieutenant General Hussain Muhammad Ershad Hussein Muhammad Ershad) born (February 1, 1930) is a Bangladeshi politician who previously served as Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh Army and later as CMLA 1982 -1986. His rise to the Presidency was in exactly the same manner of his predecessor Major General Ziaur Rahman; H M Ershad being elected President of Bangladesh 1986 - 1991.
He is a United Nations Laureate and won the parliamentary elections three times after being toppled from the presidency. Although commonly termed as an autocratic military dictator his popularity remained; even when in prison awaiting trial, Ershad won the Parliamentary Elections from five different constituencies twice - in the elections of 1991 & 1996. In 2009 he formed a "Grand Alliance" against the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) Four-Party Alliance and became the first Bangladeshi politician to apologize publicly for all wrong doings of the past and asked for forgiveness. The Grand Alliance (Mohajote) won the elections in December 2008 and HM Ershad became a Member of Parliament once again.
Despite of all the ethical dilemma and corruption surrounding him, Hussain Muhammad Ershad did manage to leave behind a legacy of developments in infrastructure, socio-economic growth and brought stability to Bangladesh's Armed Forces. The former Chief of Army Staff & President, Lieutenant General Hussain Muhammad Ershad is currently a Member of Parliament & Chairman of Jatiya Party - the second largest party in Bangladesh's Coalition Government known as Grand Alliance (Mohajote) as of January 2009.
Early life and military career
Hussain Muhammad Ershad was born in Rangpur in 1930. His parents migrated from Dinhata subdivision of Coochbehar district of West Bengal, India. He graduated from the University of Dhaka in 1950 and was commissioned into the Pakistan Army in 1952. Between he was an adjutant in the East Bengal regimental depot in Chittagong. He also completed advanced courses from the prestigious 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. During the Bangladesh Liberation War, he was interned along with other Bengali officers stationed in West Pakistan as a Prisoner of War at the outbreak of the 1971 Liberation War and repatriated to Bangladesh in 1973 in accordance with the Simla Agreement between India's Indira Gandhi and Pakistan's Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto. He arrived back to his homeland - the new state of Bangladesh in 1973, and was appointed Adjutant General of the Bangladesh Army by Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. After attending advanced military courses in National Defence University (NDU), India, Ershad was appointed Deputy chief of army staff in 1975 by Major General Ziaur Rahman when Zia became the Deputy Chief Martial Law Administrator following Chief Justice of Bangladesh Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem's elevation to the presidency on November 7, 1975.
Ershad remained loyal to Ziaur Rahman, Major General Zia had been appointed Army Chief by President of Bangladesh Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad after the Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country's founding leader, on 15 August 1975 as the country headed towards communism banning multiparty rule by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Although Major General Ziaur Rahman was arrested in a counter-coup on November 3, 1975, he was restored to power in a coup led by Colonel Abu Taher on November 7, 1975. When Ziaur Rahman assumed the presidency after legalizing military coups and the revival of the multiparty system through the Fifth Amendment of the Bangladesh Constitution he appointed HM Ershad as the new Chief of Army Staff, promoting him to the rank of Lieutenant General. Viewed as a professional soldier with no political aspiration because of his imprisonment during the Bangladesh Independence War in former West Pakistan and having a talent for Bengali speech writing, he soon became the closest politico-military counselor of Major General Ziaur Rahman.
Presidency
After the assassination of Ziaur Rahman on 30 May 1981, Ershad remained loyal to the government and ordered the army to suppress the coup attempt of Zia's associates led by Major General Abul Manzoor. It is
widely speculated that Monjur was used as a scapegoat and Ershad himself was behind the liquidation of President Zia; although never proven in any court of law, even when Zia's widow was in power in 1991-1996 and again in 2001-2006. Ershad maintained loyalty to the new president Abdus Sattar, who led the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to victory in elections in 1982. Ershad even alloted two houses to Mrs. Khaleda Zia and her two sons, one of them in Dhaka Cantonment where Ziaur Rahman's family still resides, and became a centre point of controversy later on, and evicted from it in November 2010.
However the BNP government was not doing well and pressure increased from high-ranking army commanders for the military to take over the reins of state. Ershad came to power in a bloodless coup on 24 March 1982 and proclaimed himself Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA), President Justice Sattar was replaced. He took over as president on 11 December 1983 by replacing A. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury. respectively.
As president, Ershad included amendments into the constitution of Bangladesh which declared Islam the state religion, abandoning state secularism. To improve rural administration, Ershad introduced the Upazila and Zila Parishad system and held the 'first democratic elections for these village councils' in 1985.
In a sham Presidential Election, 1987, Ershad was nominated by Jatiyo Party, which had been created by him and his supporters. Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) boycotted it. The only significant candidate was Lieutenant Colonel (Rtd.) Syed Faruque Rahman, prime accused in the August 15 Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the November 3 jail killing in 1975. Faruque contested with
shiff of paddy, otherwise, the trditional insignia of BNP. Ershad, however, won the election.
Although the BNP led by Khaleda Zia boycotted, the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina participated in the Bangladeshi general election, 1986. The Jatiyo Party led by Ershad won the elections winning a majority in the Jatiyo Sangshad. In 1987 Bangladesh's Land Ministry launched the 'Land Reforms Action Program', an initiative to distribute khas – unoccupied state-owned land – to landless families. A novel element of the land reform was the establishment by the Ministry of Land.
Ershad's regime is often seen as the longest autocratic rule in Bangladesh. Although there were two general elections, they were widely criticized by the opposition parties - BNP boycotted the election in 1986 but that election gained legitimacy as the other major opposition party Awami League founded by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Jamaat-e-Islami which was resurrected by President Ziaur Rahman also participated the election.
Both the BNP and the Awami League boycotted the Bangladeshi general election, 1988. There were some reports of violence, human rights abuse and corruption during his tenure, which, however, still is a common practice by any government in power in Bangladesh and simply multiplied. It should be noted that Transparency International branded Bangladesh as the most corrupt country in the world for the first time during the tenure of Awami League (1996 to 2001) and never went off the number one spot till the fall of BNP (2001 to 2006).
UN award
He was awarded as a United Nations' Laureate twice during his presidency, from the United Nations.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to increasing the awareness of population questions and to their solution Ershad was awarded 'UN Population Award ' in 1987 by the General Assembly.
He campaigned for the early conclusion of an international convention on the protection and conservation of climate. He also proposed a worldwide fund to help developing countries stop environmental degradation; for which he was awarded the 'UN Environment Award ' in 1988
Accomplishments
connecting the country's north and south together, was started. The Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge Authority (JMBA) was set up by an ordinance promulgated by the President on July 3, 1985 to implement the project. For mobilisation of domestic resources, another ordinance was promulgated by which a Jamuna Bridge surcharge and levy were introduced. A total of Tk 5.08 billion was mobilised in the process till its abolition.
H M Ershad stabilized the Bangladesh Armed Forces which was facing a series of Coups and counter Coups ever since its emergence as a nation in 1971. The
South Asian Multidisciplinary Academic Journal documents the Bangladesh Army's history regarding this. The Bangladesh Armed Forces did not attempt any coups since Ershad's takeover in 1982 till the fall of BNP government in 1996. The Awami League in alliance with Jatiya Party won Bangladeshi general election, June 1996.
During Ershad's tenure as President of Bangladesh elected in 1986, the Bangladesh Army started its participation in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in 1988 for the very first time.
The particiaption of Bangladesh Armed Forces in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations initiated by Ershad turned out to be one of the highest source of foreign currency earners today.
He was the first leader in history to sign a death sentence for throwing acid on women. In the early eighties he himself signed the death sentence of three people who had thrown acid at girls refusing their advances and ordered their public hanging. This led to a dramatic lowering of throwing acid on girls. He also issued death sentence ruling for any one who would mutilate children for begging. In Bangladesh he was the one who passed a law that if a child is found crippled on the road he has to be taken to police custody and then from their to a hospital and appropriate institution. Any one who voluntarily cripples a child or any one is given a death sentence. This also led to a dramatic decline in crippling children begging in Bangladesh.
He also had a long term ruling on health care with issuing free Tuberculosis and leprosy drugs for the patients in all the health complexes. He stopped human transportation on the Bangladesh Borders. He launched a wide spread campaign against use of Illicit drugs and opening of drug rehabillation centre in Bangladesh.
The
Land Reforms Ordinance of 1984 granted important rights to tenants for the first time in the history of Bangladesh, and a new plan for the divestment of government industries promised to move the country away from socialism.
Downfall
A wide umbrella of political parties united against Ershad. Zia's widow Khaleda Zia now led the BNP, which allied itself with the Awami League, led by Mujib's daughter Sheikh Hasina; Awami League stopped its support to Ershad and resigned from the Parliament in 1987. The leftist parties and groups remained keen to keep other parties on the track towards the ousting of Ershad's regime. The Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and other parties also joined the opposition ranks. The strikes and protests called by the opposition groups paralysed the state and its economy. Under pressure, Ershad dissolved the parliament on 7 December 1987 but the fresh elections were again boycotted by the opposition. An intensifying opposition campaign launched by the students ultimately forced Ershad to step down on 6 December 1990. The West, that backed him for almost a decade, no longer supported the
Caretaker Government; this was a move that was made for the very first time in the country's history and was not in the constitution at the time. Shahabuddin immediately placed Ershad under arrest. However this act by Shahabuddin was declared illegal by the country's Supreme Court later on. Lt General Nuruddin Khan unlike his predecessor Lt Gen Atiqur Rahman did not back the President. In 1996 the newly elected Government of Awami League selected Shahabuddin as the President and Lt General Nuruddin Khan became the Energy Minister, only to be dismissed for gross mismanagement.
Although anti-Ershad sentiment was strong, H M Ershad contested the election from jail and still won all 5 different constituencies he contested from in 1991. The new government led by the BNP's Khaleda Zia instituted a number of corruption charges. Ershad was convicted in two charges till date, while all others were dismissed and thrown out of court.
In the 1991 and 1996 elections, Ershad again won from five different constituencies from jail twice. In 1996 he provided his support to the Awami League and formed a government of consensus although his party sat on the opposition side of the parliament.
He was released from jail on 9 January 1997 by the government but only after unconditional support was provided to Awami League by the former President.
