1976 Bogra mutiny

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family were killed in the 15 August 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état by officers and soldiers of the Bangladesh Army.{{Cite web |title=Mujibur Rahman {{!}} Biography, Family, & Assassination |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mujibur-Rahman |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Rahman, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur |url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Rahman,_Bangabandhu_Sheikh_Mujibur |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=Banglapedia |language=en}}{{Cite news |title=Bangladesh Executes Ex-Army Captain Who Assassinated Sheikh Mujibur Rahman |url=https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/bangladesh-executes-ex-army-captain-who-assassinated-sheikh-mujibur-rahman-2210252 |access-date=2023-02-03 |work=NDTV}} Khondker Moshtaq Ahmed became president of Bangladesh and praised the killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.{{Cite news |date=2009-10-12 |title=Moshtaq hailed killers as 'Surja Santan' |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-109535 |access-date=2023-02-03 |work=The Daily Star |language=en}} The regiments involved in the coup were divided and dispersed to different cantonments around Bangladesh.{{Cite journal |last=Maniruzzaman |first=Talukder |date=1977 |title=Bangladesh in 1976: Struggle for Survival as an Independent State |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2643476 |journal=Asian Survey |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=191–200 |doi=10.2307/2643476 |jstor=2643476 |issn=0004-4687|url-access=subscription }} Officers involved in the coup and killing were given posts in diplomatic missions of Bangladesh.

The Bengal Lancers were directly involved in the coup and killing of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. They were posted to Bogra Cantonment and their officers were sent into diplomatic posting outside of Bangladesh.{{Cite news |date=2010-01-27 |title=Factbox: Key facts about Bangladesh's Mujib case |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bangladesh-mujib-factbox-idUSTRE60Q67A20100127 |access-date=2023-02-03}} Major General Ziaur Rahman, chief of Bangladesh Army, had difficulty moving the Bengal Lancers to Bogra but was forced after Air Vice Marshall Muhammad Ghulam Tawab, Chief of Bangladesh Air Force, threatened to use Air Force aircraft against the Bengal Lancers.

Tawab, a rightwing figure in the pro-Islamic faction of the armed forces,{{cite book |last1=Lunstead |first1=Jeffrey |editor1-last=Olsen |editor1-first=Edward A. |editor2-last=Jurika |editor2-first=Stephen Jr |title=The Armed forces in contemporary Asian societies |year=1986 |publisher=Westview Press |isbn=0-8133-0160-2 |page=313 |chapter=The Armed Forces in Bangladesh Society}} was secretly behind a large March 1976 religious gathering that demanded Islamic provisions in the constitution.{{cite book |last1=Ahmed |first1=Moudud |author1-link=Moudud Ahmed |title=Democracy and the challenge of development: a study of politics and military interventions in Bangladesh |date=1995 |publisher=Vikas Publishing House |location=New Delhi |isbn=0-7069-9726-3 |page=67}} He and the other coup plotters wanted Bangladesh to become an Islamic republic and sought a share of political power.{{cite book |last1=Keegan |first1=John |author1-link=John Keegan |title=World armies |url=https://archive.org/details/worldarmies0000unse/page/40/mode/1up |url-access=registration |year=1983 |orig-year=First published 1979 |publisher=Gale Research Co |location=Detroit, Michigan |isbn=0-8103-1515-7 |page=40 |edition=2nd}} The next month Tawab supports the return of four army officers involved in the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and join the Bengal Lancers in Bogra Cantonment.

Lt. Col. (rtd) Khandaker Abdur Rashid flew from Bangkok to Dhaka on 20 April 1976. Rashid spent the next few days discreetly activating members of his old outfit (2nd Field Artillery), and of Lt. Col. (rtd) Syed Faruque Rahman's former armoured command, which had been split into the Bengal Lancers at Bogra and the 1st Bengal Cavalry at Savar.{{cite book |last1=Mascarenhas |first1=Anthony |author1-link=Anthony Mascarenhas |title=Bangladesh: a legacy of blood |year=1986 |publisher=Hodder and Stoughton |isbn=0-340-39420-X |page=141}} Faruque arrived in Dhaka by air from Singapore on 23 April. He was warmly welcomed by his tank crews at Savar.{{cite book |last1=Mascarenhas |first1=Anthony |author1-link=Anthony Mascarenhas |title=Bangladesh: a legacy of blood |year=1986 |publisher=Hodder and Stoughton |isbn=0-340-39420-X |pages=141–142}}

The led to the 1976 Bogra mutiny under Colonel Syed Faruque Rahman, one of officers Tawab helped returned.{{Cite web |title=Assassination of Ziaur Rahman (1981) - Sheikh Mujib's killers return for another mutiny, government vs leftist parties - History of Bangladesh |url=http://www.londoni.co/index.php/27-history-of-bangladesh/1981-assassination-of-ziaur-rahman/292-assassination-of-ziaur-rahman-1981-sheikh-mujib-s-killers-return-for-another-mutiny-government-vs-leftist-parties-history-of-bangladesh |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=londoni.co |language=en-gb}} The government of Bangladesh responded firmly to the mutiny threatening to completely annihilate the unit. Syed Faruque Rahman surrendered on the condition that he will not be tried and be allowed to leave Bangladesh.

After the failed mutiny, Major General Ziaur Rahman retires Tawab, sends the four officers back, and disbands the Bengal Lancers. The 22nd Bengal Regiment mutinied in the 1977 Bogra mutiny to call for the release of Syed Faruque Rahman.{{Cite web |title=Assassination of Ziaur Rahman (1981) - Sepoy Mutiny in Bogra and Dhaka - History of Bangladesh |url=http://www.londoni.co/index.php/27-history-of-bangladesh/1981-assassination-of-ziaur-rahman/297-assassination-of-ziaur-rahman-1981-sepoy-mutiny-in-bogra-and-dhaka-history-of-bangladesh |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=londoni.co |language=en-gb}}

{{Reflist}}

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Category:1976 crimes in Bangladesh

Category:Conflicts in 1976

Category:1976 murders in Bangladesh

Category:Mutinies

Category:Military history of Dhaka

Category:History of Bangladesh (1971–present)

Category:1970s in Dhaka

Category:Military coups in Bangladesh

Category:April 1976 in Bangladesh

Category:1970s coups d'état and coup attempts

Category:Bogra District