Ziaur Rahman

Ziaur Rahman was born on 19 January 1936 to a Bengali Muslim family of Mandals in the village of Bagbari in Gabtali, Bogra District. His father, Mansur Rahman, was a chemist who specialised in paper and ink chemistry and worked for a government department at Writers' Building in Kolkata. His grandfather, Moulvi Kamaluddin Mandal, migrated from Mahishaban to Nashipur-Bagbari after marrying his grandmother, Meherunnisa. His mother's name was Jahanara Khatun. Ziaur Rahman was raised in his home village of Bagbari{{cite news |title=No Qurbani in Zia's village home |url=https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/no-qurbani-in-zia-s-village-home |work=bdnews24.com |date=16 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907085005/https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/no-qurbani-in-zia-s-village-home |archive-date=7 September 2024 |language=en}} and studied in Bogra Zilla School.{{cite news |author=Md.Mahbur Rahman |date=5 August 2006 |title=From Bogra: A Successful Seat of knowledge |url=https://archive.thedailystar.net/starinsight/2006/08/01/guru.htm |newspaper=The Daily Star |access-date=29 December 2015}} He had two younger brothers, Ahmed Kamal (d. 2017){{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/country/late-president-ziaur-rahmans-younger-brother-ahmed-kamal-passes-away-1495513 |title=Zia's brother Kamal passes away |date=23 November 2017 |work=The Daily Star |language=en |access-date=25 August 2019 |archive-date=25 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825025438/https://www.thedailystar.net/country/late-president-ziaur-rahmans-younger-brother-ahmed-kamal-passes-away-1495513 |url-status=live}} and Khalilur Rahman (d. 2014).{{Cite news |url=https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/zias-younger-brother-dies-in-us |title=Zia's younger brother dies in US |work=bdnews24.com |access-date=14 April 2020 |date=30 March 2014}}

In 1946, Mansur Rahman enrolled Ziaur 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 the 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,{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404707055.html |title=Ziaur Rahman |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=18 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140501235929/http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404707055.html |archive-date=1 May 2014}} 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. Ziaur Rahman spent his adolescent years in Karachi and, by age 16, completed his secondary education from that school in 1952.{{cite web |title=Rahman, Shahid Ziaur |url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Rahman,_Shahid_Ziaur |website=en.banglapedia.org |publisher=Banglapedia |access-date=7 September 2024 |language=en}}

In 1953, Ziaur Rahman was admitted into the D. J. Sindh Government Science College. The same year, he joined the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul as a cadet.

In August 1960, his marriage was arranged to Khaleda Khanam Putul,{{cite news |date=19 November 2018 |title= |script-title=bn:'বেগম খালেদা জিয়া: হার লাইফ, হার স্টোরি'র মোড়ক উন্মোচন |url=https://www.banglanews24.com/politics/news/bd/686285.details |access-date=6 September 2024 |work=banglanews24.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811102200/https://www.banglanews24.com/politics/news/bd/686285.details |archive-date=11 August 2023 |language=bn}}{{cite news |last=Mahmood |first=Sumon |date=8 February 2018 |title= |script-title=bn:এই প্রথম দণ্ড নিয়ে বন্দি খালেদা |url=https://bangla.bdnews24.com/politics/article1457529.bdnews |access-date=6 September 2024 |work=bdnews24.com |language=bn-BD |archive-date=17 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017200008/https://bangla.bdnews24.com/politics/article1457529.bdnews |url-status=live}} the 15-year-old daughter of Iskandar and Taiyaba Majumder from the Feni District (part of then Noakhali District). Khaleda Khanam Putul, later known as Khaleda Zia, went on to serve as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh three times.{{cite news |title=Bangladesh media ban for opposition leader Khaleda Zia's son |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30708898 |work=BBC News |date=7 January 2015 |access-date=26 March 2016 |archive-date=17 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417204845/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30708898 |url-status=live}}{{cite book |last=Dyer |first=Gwynne |author-link=Gwynne Dyer |date=2011 |title=Crawling from the Wreckage |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6LKGrKdbA04C&pg=PA86 |publisher=Vintage Canada |page=86 |isbn=978-0-307-35892-9 |access-date=26 March 2016}} At the time, Ziaur Rahman was a captain in the Pakistan Army who was posted as an Officer of the Defence Forces.{{Cite web |url=http://en.bnpbangladesh.com/2016/05/27/life-of-begum-khaleda-zia/ |title=Life of Begum Khaleda Zia |website=en.bnpbangladesh.com |access-date=2 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160618050702/http://en.bnpbangladesh.com/2016/05/27/life-of-begum-khaleda-zia/ |archive-date=18 June 2016}} His father, Mansur Rahman, could not attend the marriage ceremony,{{cite book |last=Singh |first=Nagendra Kr. |title=Khalida Zia, Begam (1945 — ) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qVtuAAAAMAAJ |access-date=18 February 2013 |year=2001 |publisher=A.P.H. Publishing Corporation |volume=III |page=212 |isbn=978-81-7648-233-2}} as he was in Karachi. Zia's mother had died earlier.

Graduating from the Pakistan Military Academy at the 12th PMA long course{{cite news |last=Siddiqi |first=Haroon R. |date=18 February 2011 |title=Coincidence or Destiny? |url=http://www.thefridaytimes.com/18022011/page30.shtml |newspaper=The Friday Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223094243/http://www.thefridaytimes.com/18022011/page30.shtml |access-date=18 February 2013 |archive-date=23 February 2011}} on 18 September 1955 in the top 10% of his class, Ziaur 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.

Ziaur 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, but Ziaur Rahman felt that the Bengali attitude towards the military perhaps prevented promising young Bengalis 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 of the British Army. He also worked in the military intelligence department from 1959 to 1964.{{cite Banglapedia |article=Rahman,_Shahid_Ziaur}}

Ayub Khan's military rule from 1958 to 1968 convinced Ziaur Rahman of the need for a fundamental change in the Bengali attitude towards the military. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Ziaur Rahman saw combat in the Khemkaran sector in Punjab as the commander of a company (military unit) of 100–150 soldiers. Ziaur Rahman was awarded the Hilal-i-Jur'at (Crescent of Courage) medal for gallantry by the Pakistan government, Pakistan's second highest military award, and the first Battalion of the East Bengal Regiment (EBR), under which he fought, won three Sitara-e-Jurat (Star of Courage) medals and eight Tamgha-i-Jurat (Medal of Courage) medals, for their role in the 1965 War with India.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/politics/indo-pak-war-1965-146932 |title=Indo-Pak War 1965 |date=22 September 2015 |work=The Daily Star |access-date=2 October 2018 |archive-date=7 June 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220607063957/https://www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/politics/indo-pak-war-1965-146932 |url-status=live}} In 1966, Ziaur 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. Ziaur Rahman helped raise two Bengali battalions called the 8th and 9th Bengals 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. Ziaur 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 from the British Army of the Rhine and later spent a few months with the British Army.

Ziaur Rahman returned to Pakistan the following year. He was posted in Chittagong, East Pakistan, in October 1970, to be second-in-command of the 8th East Bengal Regiment. 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 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP). In the 1970 Pakistani general election, 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.{{Cite web |title=Ziaur Rahman {{!}} president of Bangladesh {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ziaur-Rahman |access-date=2 April 2023 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en |archive-date=17 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417165522/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ziaur-Rahman |url-status=live}}

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. He was a Bangladesh Forces Commander of BDF Sector 1 initially and, from June, BDF Commander of BDF Sector 11 of the Bangladesh Forces and the Brigade Commander of Z Force from mid-July.

File:Mr and Mrs Zia 1979.jpg on a state visit in the Netherlands in 1979 (in the background, Prince Claus)]]

Zia, who by then was already geared to revolt against the government of Pakistan revolted and later arrested and executed his commanding officer, Lt. Col. Janjua.{{Cite web |last=Billah |first=Masum |date=16 December 2021 |title='My priority was to keep my men safe and fight a long war' |url=https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/my-priority-was-keep-my-men-safe-and-fight-long-war-344779 |access-date=25 June 2024 |website=The Business Standard |quote="They said that Ziaur Rahman had killed unit CO Lt. Col. Janjua," |archive-date=13 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513151311/https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/my-priority-was-keep-my-men-safe-and-fight-long-war-344779 |url-status=live}} He was requested by the local Awami League supporters and leaders to announce the Declaration of Independence that was earlier (in the early hours of 26 March 1971) proclaimed by the undisputed Bengali leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman before his (Ziaur Rahman) arrest on 27 March 1971 from Kalurghat, Chittagong, as an Army officer's words would carry weight restoring people's trust in the 'Declaration of Independence', which read:{{efn|Multiple references:{{cite news |title=Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro and Bangladesh's Declaration of Independence |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/swadhin-bangla-betar-kendro-and-bangladeshs-declaration-of-independence-52001 |newspaper=The Daily Star |access-date=27 November 2016 |archive-date=28 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161128050431/http://www.thedailystar.net/swadhin-bangla-betar-kendro-and-bangladeshs-declaration-of-independence-52001 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=Leader of Rebels in East Pakistan Reported Seized |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A05E1D71131E73BBC4F51DFB566838A669EDE |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |date=27 March 1971 |access-date=27 November 2016 |archive-date=7 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307023956/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A05E1D71131E73BBC4F51DFB566838A669EDE |url-status=live}}{{cite book |last=Gupta |first=Jyoti Sen |title=History Of Freedom Movement In Bangladesh, 1943-1973: Some Involvement |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DedtAAAAMAAJ |year=1974 |publisher=Naya Prokash |pages=325–326 |oclc=1056475}}{{cite news |last1=Chowdhury |first1=Afsan |date=29 August 2016 |title=Must laws protect Sheikh Mujib's honour and 1971 history? |url=https://opinion.bdnews24.com/must-laws-protect-sheikh-mujibs-honour-and-1971-history/ |newspaper=bdnews24.com |type=Opinion |access-date=8 September 2016}}}}

I, Major Ziaur Rahman, Provincial Head of the government, do hereby declare the Independence of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.

But his (Ziaur Rahman) proclamation as the "Provincial Head" of the government was much criticised and rebuked by the political leaders present there, and he realised his mistake.

Later on the same day (27 March), a second broadcast was read as correction:

I, Major Ziaur Rahman, do hereby declare the Independence of Bangladesh on behalf of our great leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Later in an interview with German Radio, Ziaur Rahman talked about his 27 March announcement.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/XtAUbEfi58E Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140307110621/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtAUbEfi58E Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |title=Radio Interview |date=10 December 2007 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtAUbEfi58E |via=YouTube |access-date=27 July 2015}}{{cbignore}}

Ziaur 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, such 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, Ziaur 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 the 1st, 3rd and 8th East Bengali regiments,{{cite web |url=http://pdfcast.org/images/s/1613/z-force-organogram-1971-bangladesh-liberation-war.jpg |title=Z Force organogram |publisher=Pdfcast.org |date=12 July 2012 |access-date=18 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930104716/http://pdfcast.org/images/s/1613/z-force-organogram-1971-bangladesh-liberation-war.jpg |archive-date=30 September 2013}} enabling Ziaur Rahman to launch major attacks on Pakistani forces. With the Z Force, Ziaur Rahman "acquired a reputation for icy bravery", according to The New York Times,{{cite news |date=30 May 1981 |title=Bangladesh Reports Death of President Ziaur Rahman |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/30/world/bangladesh-reports-death-of-president-ziaur-rahman.html |access-date=18 April 2015 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=20 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420021731/http://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/30/world/bangladesh-reports-death-of-president-ziaur-rahman.html |url-status=live}} and was awarded the Bir Uttom, the second-highest military honour (and the highest for living officers) by the Government of Bangladesh.

{{See also|Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman|15 August 1975 Bangladesh coup d'état}}File:Ziaur Rahman.jpg

A deep conspiracy with the purpose of removing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from the helm was well underway long before his assassination by outside forces{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} and internal collaborators within Bangladesh. On 15 August 1975, President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family were assassinated in a gunfight 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, who had stayed neutral during the coup. Major General Ziaur Rahman (then Deputy Chief of Army Staff) was appointed as Chief of Army Staff after Shafiullah resigned. 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 Shafaat 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. This was followed on 7 November by the Sipahi–Janata Revolution (Soldier–People's Revolution), 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.{{cite journal |last1=Serajul Islam |first1=Syed |date=May 1984 |title=The State in Bangladesh under Zia (1975–81) |journal=Asian Survey |volume=24 |issue=5 |pages=556–573 |doi=10.2307/2644413 |jstor=2644413}} Khaled Mosharraf was killed by his subordinate officers while he was sheltering with them from the mutineers. Shafaat Jamil escaped but was injured, while Ziaur Rahman was freed by the 2nd Artillery Regiment under Lt. Col. Rashid and reappointed as Chief of Army Staff with full support of the 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 Ziaur Rahman, Air Vice Marshal M. G. Tawab and Rear Admiral M. H. Khan as his deputies. However, discipline in the army had totally collapsed, and it was difficult to disarm the soldiers supported by JSD and Lt. Col. Taher, as they plotted another coup to remove Ziaur Rahman. Ziaur Rahman realised that the disorder had to be suppressed firmly if discipline was to be restored in the Bangladesh Army. Ziaur Rahman cracked down on the JSD and Gonobahini. Abu Taher was sentenced to death in July 1976, and other party figures received various terms of imprisonment.{{cite news |last=Ahsan |first=Syed Badrul |author-link=Syed Badrul Ahsan |date=7 July 2015 |title=Bourgeois dreams of socialist revolution |newspaper=The Daily Observer |url=http://www.observerbd.com/2015/07/07/98425.php |access-date=13 July 2016 |archive-date=18 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818131553/http://www.observerbd.com/2015/07/07/98425.php |url-status=dead}} Taher was executed on 21 July 1976. Ziaur Rahman became the chief martial law administrator the same year. 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, Ziaur Rahman sent discontented officers on diplomatic missions abroad to defuse unrest.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-108963 |title=Ziaur Rahman involved in incidents of Aug 15 |date=8 October 2009 |work=The Daily Star |access-date=2 October 2018}}

{{main|Presidency of Ziaur Rahman}}

File:Staff Car Mercedes Benz 4 Cylinder 2000 cc.jpg car used by Ziaur Rahman when he was Chief of Army Staff]]

Ziaur Rahman became the president of Bangladesh on 21 April 1977.{{cite web |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-90382?amp |title=Ziaur Rahman: From sector commander to president |date=30 May 2009 |access-date=5 July 2024 |archive-date=5 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240705193916/https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-90382?amp |url-status=live}} 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,{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/05/31/rebels-slay-president-of-bangladesh/9b3eaab4-e3bc-4523-b00a-a6819a4a4773/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |title=Rebels Slay President of Bangladesh |date=30 May 1981}} Ziaur Rahman lifted martial law and introduced massive reforms for the development of the country.{{cite book |last1=Karlekar |first1=Hiranmay |title=Bangladesh: The Next Afghanistan? |date=2005 |publisher=SAGE |page=48 |isbn=9788178295527}}{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/03/28/president-zia-has-reputation-as-bangladeshs-no-1-motivator/1ebd180e-6097-4760-af05-40db6c4a5b5e/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |title=President Zia Has Reputation as 'Bangladesh's No. 1 Motivator' |date=28 March 1981}}

In late September 1977, a failed coup against his administration occurred.{{cite magazine |title=Bangladesh: Power Vacuum |url=https://time.com/archive/6882299/bangladesh-power-vacuum/ |magazine=Time |date=15 June 1981 |language=en}} A group of Japanese Red Army terrorists hijacked Japan Airlines Flight 472 from India, armed with weapons and ammunition, and forced it to land at Tejgaon International Airport. On 30 September, while the attention of the government was riveted on this crisis situation, due to the spreading of panic and disinformation, actions went underway in Bogra Cantonment, where a revolt broke out.{{cite news |title=Bangladesh Says It Has Put Down An Armed Coup |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/02/archives/bangladesh-says-it-has-put-down-an-armed-coup-59-freed-by-hijackers.html |work=The New York Times |date=2 October 1977}} Although the revolt was quickly quelled on the night of 2 October, another revolt started in Dhaka cantonment, led by misinformed airmen of the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF). Armed units from these army and air force personnel unsuccessfully attacked Zia's residence, captured Dhaka Radio for a short time and killed eleven air force officers and 30 airmen at Tejgaon International Airport, where they were gathered for negotiations with the hijackers. Wing Commander M. Hamidullah Khan TJ, SH, BP (BDF Commander Bangladesh Forces Sector 11), then BAF Ground Defence Commander, quickly put down the rebellion within the Air Force, while the then 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 Ziaur Rahman promptly dismissed the DG-NSI and the DFI chief, AVM Aminul Islam Khan, of 9th GD (P), formerly a coursemate of AVM A. K. Khandkar of the Pakistan Air Force. Under Zia's presidential directive, Hamidullah initiated the transfer of DFI at Old Bailey Road from the Ministry of Defence to Dhaka Cantonment under direct control of the president and reorganised it as DGFI. In the aftermath, at least 200 soldiers involved in the coup attempt were executed following a military trial.

The size of Bangladesh police forces was doubled, and the number of soldiers in the army increased from 50,000 to 90,000. 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. Quietly, Ershad rose to become Zia's close political and military counsellor.{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404702034.html |title=Hussain Mohammad Ershad |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=18 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805013827/http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404702034.html |archive-date=5 August 2011}}

In 1978, General Ziaur Rahman ran for and overwhelmingly won a five-year term as president.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/04/archives/bangladesh-leader-sweeps-to-victory-but-zias-opponent-charges-fraud.html |title=Bangladesh Leader Sweeps to Victory |work=The New York Times |date=4 June 1978}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/01/archives/2-generals-battle-in-bangladesh-vote-martiallaw-leader-faces-strong.html |work=The New York Times |title=2 Generals Battle in Bangladesh Vote |date=1 June 1978}} The next year, elections were held for the National Assembly. Opponents questioned the integrity of the elections.{{cite book |last1=Jabar |first1=Mohammed |title=Islam and the West: A Rational Perspective |publisher=f Memoirs Publishing |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sPPJBAAAQBAJ&q=Ziaur+Rahman&pg=PT99 |access-date=18 April 2015 |chapter=7 |year=2014 |isbn=9781861513007 |quote=Following presidential elections in June 1978, Ziaur Rahman sought to give his presidency and political ambition democratic legitimacy. The National Assembly of the Republic was brought back to life following general elections in 1979. A heavy question mark hangs over the integrity of these elections. |archive-date=15 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415103507/https://books.google.com/books?id=sPPJBAAAQBAJ&q=Ziaur%20Rahman&pg=PT99 |url-status=live}}

Zia allowed Sheikh Hasina, the exiled daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to return to Bangladesh in 1981.{{cite book |last=Tripathi |first=Salil |author-link=Salil Tripathi |title=The Colonel Who Would Not Repent: The Bangladesh War and Its Unquiet Legacy |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-300-22102-2 |page=267}}

On taking power, Ziaur Rahman was "hailed as the strict leader that the struggling nation needed." Bangladesh suffered from illiteracy, severe poverty, chronic unemployment, shortages and economic stagnation. Ziaur Rahman reversed course from his predecessor Mujib's secular, democratic socialist, pro-Indian policies. Ziaur Rahman announced a "19-point programme" of economic emancipation which emphasised self-reliance, rural development, decentralisation, free markets and population control. Ziaur 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.{{cite book |date=1989 |editor1-last=Heitzman |editor1-first=James |editor2-last=Worden |editor2-first=Robert |chapter=The Zia Regime and Its Aftermath, 1977-82 |chapter-url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/21.htm |title=Bangladesh: A Country Study |url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/ |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |pages=37–40 |access-date=12 September 2006 |archive-date=22 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622211513/http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/21.htm |url-status=live}} Ziaur 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.{{cite news |title=Bangladeshi Leader Tireless in Pep Talks to People; Need for Village Self-Reliance Plan to Double Food Production 'Suspicious of One-Man Shows' Tailoring Speech to Audience Desire for Security and Stability (Published 1980) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/07/28/archives/bangladeshi-leader-tireless-in-pep-talks-to-people-need-for-village.html |work=The New York Times |date=28 July 1980 |language=en}} He launched an ambitious rural development programme in 1977, which included a highly visible and popular food-for-work programme. He promoted private sector development, export growth, and the reversing of the collectivisation of farms. His government reduced quotas and restrictions on agriculture and industrial activities.{{Cite journal |last=Franda |first=Marcus |year=1981 |title=Ziaur Rahman and Bangladeshi Nationalism |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=16 |issue=10/12 |pages=357–380 |jstor=4369609}} Ziaur 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, Ziaur Rahman established the 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.

Ziaur Rahman began reorienting Bangladesh's foreign policy, addressing the concerns of the mostly staunch rightists coupled with some renegade leftists who believed that Bangladesh was reliant on Indian economic and military aid. Ziaur 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. Ziaur 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, Ziaur 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. 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.{{cite book |last=Murshid |first=Tazeen M. |year=2001 |chapter=State, Nation, Identity: The Quest for Legitimacy in Bangladesh |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cN8rBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA166 |editor1-last=Shastri |editor1-first=Amita |editor2-last=Jeyaratnam Wilson |editor2-first=A. |editor2-link=A. Jeyaratnam Wilson |title=The Post-Colonial States of South Asia: Political and Constitutional Problems |publisher=Curzon Press |page=166 |isbn=978-1-136-11866-1 |access-date=9 October 2018 |archive-date=15 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415103507/https://books.google.com/books?id=cN8rBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA166 |url-status=live}}

Ziaur Rahman also proposed an organisation of the nations of South Asia to bolster economic and political cooperation at a regional level. 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.{{cite news |title=Bangladesh's Ziaur Rahman To Receive Posthumous SAARC Award |url=http://www.voabangla.com/content/a-16-a-2004-07-21-6-bangladesh-s-94359394/1386593.html |work=VOA Bangla |date=21 July 2004 |access-date=18 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224101210/http://www.voabangla.com/content/a-16-a-2004-07-21-6-bangladesh-s-94359394/1386593.html |archive-date=24 December 2013}}{{cite news |title=Tarique receives 1st Saarc Award for Zia |url=https://archive.thedailystar.net/2005/11/13/d51113011211.htm |newspaper=The Daily Star |date=13 November 2005 |access-date=18 February 2013}}

Ziaur Rahman believed that a massive section of the population was suffering from an identity crisis, both religiously and as a people, with a very limited sense of sovereignty. To remedy this, he began a process of mixing ideologies from moderate Islam, pluralism, inclusivity, a new nationalistic ideology, and some from secularism. 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 Articles 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.{{cite book |last=Charles Kennedy |first=Craig Baxter |title=Governance and Politics in South Asia |url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=51259067 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110804233209/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=51259067 |archive-date=4 August 2011 |year=2006 |publisher=Westview Press |isbn=978-0-8133-3901-6 |page=238 |access-date=11 July 2006}} In Article 25(2), Ziaur Rahman introduced the principle that "the state shall endeavour to consolidate, preserve and strengthen fraternal relations among Muslim countries based on Islamic solidarity." Some intellectuals accuse Ziaur Rahman of changing the nature of the republic from the secularism laid out by Sheikh Mujib and his supporters. 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.{{cite web |last1=Hashmi |first1=Taj |title=Was Ziaur Rahman Responsible For Islamic Resurgence In Bangladesh? |url=http://www.countercurrents.org/hashmi110706.htm |website=countercurrents.org |access-date=28 July 2015 |archive-date=14 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714170448/http://www.countercurrents.org/hashmi110706.htm |url-status=live}} Ziaur Rahman believed that Islam, as a religion, could play some role in guiding the Muslim-majority Bangladesh.

Later, Ziaur Rahman introduced Islamic religious education as a compulsory subject for Muslim schoolchildren.{{Cite book |last=Riaz |first=Ali |year=2008 |title=Faithful Education: Madrassahs in South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUIEAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA140 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |page=140 |isbn=978-0-8135-4562-2 |quote=The second change was the introduction of Islamiat—a course on Islamic studies—at primary and secondary levels ... mandatory for all Muslim students. |access-date=23 November 2020 |archive-date=15 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415103510/https://books.google.com/books?id=kUIEAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA140 |url-status=live}} 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. Ziaur Rahman undid this as well as the ban on communal parties and associations{{cite book |last=Karlekar |first=Hiranmay |date=2005 |title=Bangladesh: The Next Afghanistan? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EKJpvxs1ZTkC&pg=PA51 |publisher=SAGE |pages=51–52 |isbn=978-0-7619-3401-1}} due to his commitment to multiparty democracy and political pluralism.

In public speeches and policies that he formulated, Ziaur Rahman began expounding "Bangladesh Nationalism", its "Sovereignty", as opposed to Mujib's assertion of a Bengali identity based on language-based nationalism. Claiming to promote an inclusive national identity, Ziaur 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.{{Cite web |last=Hussan |first=Md Juman |title=Ziaur Rahman A legendary leader from Asia |url=https://www.academia.edu/50318965 |publisher=Red Times |access-date=2 April 2023 |archive-date=19 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119122256/https://www.academia.edu/50318965 |url-status=live}} 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.

After the formation of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 1978, Ziaur Rahman took the initiative for the formation of political institutes and sponsored workshops for the youth to get active political lessons on Bangladeshi nationalism. In such a workshop in September 1980, Ziaur Rahman spoke to the learners.{{cite book |title=Tarique Rahman: Opekkhaye Bangladesh |publisher=Ziaur Rahman Foundation |location=Dhaka |year=2010 |page=389 |isbn=978-984-760-141-0 |last1=Ahamed |first1=Emajuddin |last2=Majidul Islam |last3=Moohmud |first3=Shaukat |last4=Sikder |first4=Abdul Hai |author-link1=Emajuddin Ahamed |author-link3=Shaukat Mahmood}}

{{Main|Indemnity Act, Bangladesh}}File:Firoze noon and zia.jpg

Ziaur Rahman enacted several controversial measures, some to discipline the army, some to solidify his power, and some to win the support of Islamist political groups such as the Jamaat-e-Islami.{{Cite web |url=http://alice.ces.uc.pt/news/?p=1376 |title=The Jamaat factor in Bangladesh politics: Jyoti Rehman {{!}} Alice News |website=alice.ces.uc.pt |access-date=2 October 2018 |archive-date=2 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002180639/http://alice.ces.uc.pt/news/?p=1376 |url-status=live}} Zia also facilitated the comeback of the Muslim League and other Islamic parties, appointing the highly controversial anti-independence figure Shah Azizur Rahman (who was earlier released from jail by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1973{{cite news |script-title=bn:োগালাম অাযমসহ ১৪ রাজনীিতকেক অাতઅসমপગেণর িনেদગশ োদওয়া হয় সবઓর-শাহ অািজজেদর মઓਡઙ কেরিছেলন বਔবਬઓ |trans-title=14 politicians including Golam Azam are ordered to surrender |url=http://www.prothom-alo.net.nyud.net:8080/V1/archive/news_details_mcat.php?dt=2008-03-26&issue_id=875&cat_id=1&nid=OTA0OTk=&mid=MQ== |newspaper=Prothom Alo |language=bn |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130421005011/http://www.prothom-alo.net.nyud.net:8080/V1/archive/news_details_mcat.php?dt=2008-03-26&issue_id=875&cat_id=1&nid=OTA0OTk%3D&mid=MQ%3D%3D |archive-date=21 April 2013 |url-status=dead}}) as prime minister.{{cite web |date=12 March 1979 |title=End of Journey |url=http://jadumia.com/death.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202100846/http://jadumia.com/death.htm |archive-date=2 February 2014 |access-date=18 February 2013 |publisher=Jadumia}}

Ziaur 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 President Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad in 1975, ratified in the Parliament as the Indemnity Act,{{cite web |date=12 September 2006 |url=http://www.banglapedia.org/HT/I_0036.HTM |title=Indemnity |access-date=12 September 2006 |website=Banglapaedia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121153421/http://banglapedia.org/HT/I_0036.HTM |archive-date=21 November 2008}} and incorporated as the 5th amendment to the constitution during the tenure of President Hussain Muhammad Ershad.{{Cite news |url=https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/indemnity-laws-a-black-spot-in-bangladesh-s-human-rights-record |title=Indemnity laws a black spot in Bangladesh's human rights record |work=bdnews24.com |date=15 August 2009 |access-date=2 October 2018}}

{{Main|Assassination of Ziaur Rahman}}

{{See also|Mausoleum of Ziaur Rahman}}

File:Zia Museum 001.JPG]]

File:First grave mausoleum of Martyred President Ziaur Rahman 01.jpg]]

File:Zia Park3.jpg in Zia Udyan]]

During his term of power, Ziaur Rahman was criticised for ruthless treatment of his army opposition. 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, Ziaur Rahman went on tour to Chittagong on 29 May 1981 to help resolve an intra-party political dispute in the regional BNP.{{cite magazine |title=Bangladesh: Death at Night |url=https://time.com/archive/6856433/bangladesh-death-at-night/ |magazine=Time |date=8 June 1981 |language=en}} Ziaur Rahman and his entourage stayed overnight at the Chittagong Circuit House.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/questions-never-answered-90970 |title=Questions never answered |date=2 June 2015 |work=The Daily Star |access-date=2 October 2018 |archive-date=2 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002192324/https://www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/questions-never-answered-90970 |url-status=live}} In the early hours of the morning of 30 May, he was assassinated by a group of army officers.{{cite news |date=30 May 2017 |title=Zia's death anniversary being |work=Prothom Alo |url=http://en.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/news/149639/Zia%E2%80%99s-death-anniversary-being-observed |access-date=27 October 2017 |archive-date=27 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027232011/http://en.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/news/149639/Zia%E2%80%99s-death-anniversary-being-observed |url-status=dead}}{{cite encyclopedia |title=Ziaur Rahman |encyclopedia=Who's Who in the Twentieth Century |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803133449846 |year=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-280091-6 |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=20 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211220221223/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803133449846 |url-status=live}} Also killed were six of his bodyguards and two aides.{{cite magazine |title=Bangladesh: Death at Night |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922557,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930092059/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922557,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 September 2007 |url-access=subscription |magazine=Time |date=8 June 1981 |page=41 |access-date=10 September 2006 |quote=President Ziaur Rahman, only 45, lay dead with two aides and six bodyguards in a government rest house in Chittagong. All were reportedly shot by an assassination squad, led by [Major General] Manjur, in the early morning hours Saturday}}

Nearly two million people are estimated to have attended the funeral held at the Parliament of Bangladesh.{{cite news |title=Bangladesh Buries Leader |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_I4cAAAAIBAJ&pg=5846,221312&dq= |newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press |agency=United Press International |date=2 June 1981 |page=A-5 |access-date=23 November 2020 |archive-date=10 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110212520/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_I4cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HGEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5846,221312&dq= |url-status=live}}

File:Demonstratie op Binnenhof tegen Ziaur Rahman op de spandoeken staat o.a. Stop, Bestanddeelnr 930-2273.jpg

Many Bangladeshi politicians consider Ziaur Rahman a war hero.{{cite news |last=Chowdhury |first=Afsan |date=29 August 2016 |title=Must laws protect Sheikh Mujib's honour and 1971 history? |url=https://opinion.bdnews24.com/must-laws-protect-sheikh-mujibs-honour-and-1971-history/ |newspaper=bdnews24.com |type=Opinion |access-date=8 September 2016}} Ziaur Rahman is credited with ending the disorder of the final years of Sheikh Mujib's rule and establishing democracy by abolishing BAKSAL (one-party rule established by Mujib). On the other hand, Ziaur Rahman is assailed by his critics for suppressing opposition.{{cite journal |last=Haque |first=Azizul |date=February 1980 |title=Bangladesh 1979: Cry for a Sovereign Parliament |journal=Asian Survey |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=217–230 |doi=10.2307/2644025 |jstor=2644413}} However, Zia's economic reforms are credited with rebuilding the economy, and his move towards Islamisation brought him the support of ordinary Bangladeshi people.{{cite news |title=Bangladesh Voters Support President |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/20/archives/bangladesh-voters-support-president-zias-party-wins-a-big-majority.html |work=The New York Times |date=20 February 1979 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241221080851/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/20/archives/bangladesh-voters-support-president-zias-party-wins-a-big-majority.html |archive-date=21 December 2024}}

{{main|Indemnity Ordinance, 1975}}

Zia's role after the 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 not abolished by Rahman during his tenure as president. Some killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family were sent abroad during his time as president.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/politics/the-conspiracy-behind-the-assassination-bangabandhu-1269715 |title=The conspiracy behind the assassination of Bangabandhu |date=15 August 2016 |work=The Daily Star (Bangladesh) |access-date=2 October 2018 |archive-date=13 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613040600/https://www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/politics/the-conspiracy-behind-the-assassination-bangabandhu-1269715 |url-status=live}}

{{main|Presidency of Ziaur Rahman}}{{See also|1977 Bangladeshi presidential confidence referendum}}

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 election held in 1978 were declared "unknown to the constitution". The court ruling overruled the Indemnity Act by which these very events were accorded a legal status and enshrined in the constitution.

{{main|Secularism in Bangladesh}}

Zia rejected Sheikh Mujib's one-party state policy and reintroduced multi-party democracy. Not only this, he also paved the way for Awami League to re-enter into politics, as Awami League was out of politics after Mujib disintegrated Awami League during the formation of BAKSAL (one-party-based autocratic state policy) and the 1975 August Revolution (where Mujib was killed by a group of young visionary junior army officers), through which Awami League had already lost maximum public support. During his reign, Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Mujib, returned to Bangladesh and got a chance to re-establish Awami League as a political power. He also brought Bangladesh into the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, a move that was widely welcomed by the general public. However, many historians argue that these actions might have alienated Bangladesh's tribal and religious minorities.{{cite web |url=https://www.countercurrents.org/hashmi110706.htm |title=Was Ziaur Rahman Responsible For Islamic Resurgence In Bangladesh? |last=Hashmi |first=Taj |website=countercurrents.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530070839/https://www.countercurrents.org/hashmi110706.htm |access-date=28 July 2015 |archive-date=30 May 2023}}

{{See also|1977 Bangladesh mass executions}}

During Ziaur Rahman's regime, at least 20 military coup attempts took place. It is claimed that many soldiers and military officials either disappeared or were killed during Zia's regime.{{Cite web |url=http://majordalimbubangla.com/wp/chapter-17/ |title=Major Dalim | chapter 17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240827111852/http://majordalimbubangla.com/wp/chapter-17/ |archive-date=27 August 2024 |language=bn}} On one occasion, about 1,143 people were hanged in various Bangladeshi prisons on charges of participating in a failed coup attempt on 2 October 1977.{{cite book |last=Ahmed |first=Mohiuddin |date=2014 |script-title=bn:জাসদের উত্থান পতনঃ অস্থির সময়ের রাজনীতি |trans-title=Rise and fall of JSD: Politics in the time of turmoil |url=https://www.rokomari.com/book/91106/jasoder-utthan-poton---osthir-somoyer-rajniti |language=bn |location=Bangladesh |publisher=Prothoma Prokashoni |isbn=9789849074755}}

{{Main|Majumder–Zia family}}

With Khaleda Zia, Ziaur Rahman had two sons, Tarique 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.{{cite magazine |last1=Green |first1=William |last2=Perry |first2=Alex |title="We Have Arrested So Many" |url=https://time.com/archive/6676815/we-have-arrested-so-many/ |magazine=Time |date=10 April 2006 |language=en}} In elections held in 1991, she led the BNP to victory and became the first female prime minister of Bangladesh. She lost the 1996 elections to the Awami League's Sheikh Hasina but returned to power in 2001. Tarique served as the acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).{{Cite news |title=Tarique Rahman acting chairman: BNP leader |language=en |work=The Daily Star |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/politics/tarique-rahman-acting-chairman-says-bnp-leader-nazrul-islam-khan-1531762 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619164220/https://www.thedailystar.net/politics/tarique-rahman-acting-chairman-says-bnp-leader-nazrul-islam-khan-1531762 |archive-date=19 June 2023}}

{{See also|List of things named after Ziaur Rahman}}

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party continues to hold his legacy,{{cite news |title=BNP vows to safeguard democracy |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/politics/news/bnp-vows-safeguard-democracy-3747751 |work=The Daily Star |agency=UNB |date=8 November 2024 |language=en}} and many things are named after him after his death.{{cite news |title=Bogra interns continue strike at Zia Medical College Hospital |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/bogra-interns-continue-strike-zia-medical-college-hospital-1370698 |work=The Daily Star |date=4 March 2017 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=Protesters call for renaming of Shahjalal Airport |url=https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/infrastructure/protesters-call-renaming-shahjalal-airport-937511 |work=The Business Standard |date=9 September 2024 |language=en}}

• {{flagu|Bangladesh}}:
• 40px Bir Uttom{{cite news |last1=Ishtiaq |first1=Ahmad |script-title=bn:খেতাবপ্রাপ্ত বীর মুক্তিযোদ্ধা: জিয়াউর রহমান, বীর উত্তম |url=https://bangla.thedailystar.net/%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%82%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%83%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF/%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B8-%E0%A6%90%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B9%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF/%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B8/%E0%A6%96%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A7%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%BF%E0%A7%9F%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%89%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%89%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%AE-302391 |work=The Daily Star |date=8 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730032004/https://bangla.thedailystar.net/%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%82%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%83%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF/%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B8-%E0%A6%90%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B9%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF/%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B8/%E0%A6%96%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A7%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%BF%E0%A7%9F%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%89%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%89%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%AE-302391 |archive-date=30 July 2023 |language=bn}}
• 40px Independence Award{{cite web |url=http://www.cabinet.gov.bd/view_award.php?year_select=2003&Submit=GO&lang=en |title=List of Independence Awardees |website=Cabinet Division - Bangladesh |language=bn |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514084601/http://www.cabinet.gov.bd/view_award.php?year_select=2003&Submit=GO&lang=en |archive-date=2013-05-14}}{{cite news |title=Govt reinstates Ziaur Rahman's Independence Award |url=https://www.jagonews24.com/en/national/news/81137 |access-date=11 March 2025 |work=Jago News 24 |date=11 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250311092239/https://www.jagonews24.com/en/national/news/81137 |archive-date=11 March 2025}}{{cite news |title=Ziaur Rahman's Independence Award reinstated |url=https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/ziaur-rahmans-independence-award-reinstated-1089791 |access-date=11 March 2025 |work=The Business Standard |date=11 March 2025 |language=en}}

Turkey posthumously named a road in Ankara as Ziaur Rahman Caddesi in his honour.[https://maps.google.com.bd/maps?q=%C3%87ankaya,+Ziaur+Rahman+Caddesi,+Ankara,+Turkey&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x14d34f88c9791223:0x7889d768f59b3edb,Ziaur+Rahman+Cd,+Ankara,+Turkey&gl=bd&ei=dWa2UrauM82jhgfg44HICQ&ved=0CCkQ8gEwAA Çankaya, Ziaur Rahman Caddesi, Ankara, Turkey]. Google Maps (1 January 1970). Retrieved 27 April 2015. In 2004, Ziaur Rahman was ranked number 19 in the BBC's poll of the Greatest Bengali of all time.{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3623345.stm |title=Listeners name 'greatest Bengali' |date=14 April 2004 |access-date=19 August 2018 |work=BBC News |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225011709/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3623345.stm |url-status=live}} Zia was also honoured by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation for his statesmanship and vision. Other honours include:

• {{flagu|Pakistan}}:
• 40px Hilal-i-Jur'at
• {{flagu|Egypt}}:
• 40px Grand Cordon of Order of the Nile
• {{flagu|North Korea}}:
• 40px Hero of the Republic{{Cite web |url=https://www.rokomari.com/book/74518/bangladesher-rajnotik-gotonaponji-1971-2011 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224103856/http://rokomari.com/book/74518%3Bjsessionid%3D27BD589F3ED0EDC2015175AB94630751 |url-status=dead |script-title=bn:বাংলাদেশের রাজনৈতিক ঘটনাপঞ্জি ১৯৭১-২০১১ - বিচারপতি মুহাম্মদ হাবিবুর রহমান |archivedate=24 December 2013 |website=Rokomari}}
• {{flagu|Yugoslavia}}:
• 40px Order of the Yugoslav Great Star{{Cite journal |date=23 November 1978 |title=Ručak u čast Rahmana |url=https://arhiv.slobodnadalmacija.hr/pvpages/pvpages/viewPage/?pv_page_id=603602&pv_issue_no=781123_A |journal=Slobodna Dalmacija |issue=10463 |pages=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727010218/https://arhiv.slobodnadalmacija.hr/pvpages/pvpages/viewPage/?pv_page_id=603602&pv_issue_no=781123_A |archive-date=27 July 2023}}

Juliana of the Netherlands and Ziaur Rahman 1979.jpg|Queen Juliana and Ziaur Rahman in Netherlands, 1979

Jan de Koning, Ziaur Rahman, Dries van Agt 1979.jpg|Ziaur Rahman talking to Dutch Prime Minister Dries van Agt

Statiefoto Koninklijke Familie en President Ziaur Rakm (Bangladesj) en echtgenot, Bestanddeelnr 253-8087.jpg|Ziaur Rahman (second right) with members of the Dutch royal family in 1978

Wilhelm Haferkamp Ziaur Rahman discussing Roy Jenkins Shamsul Haque Brussels 1979.jpg|Discussion between Ziaur Rahman and Roy Jenkins, in the presence of Muhammad Shamsul Haque and Wilhelm Haferkamp

Ziaur Rahman en koningin Juliana in infocentrum Nieuw Land in Lelystad, Bestanddeelnr 930-2301.jpg|Ziaur Rahman, Khaleda Zia and Queen Juliana at the New Land Information Center in Lelystad

শহীদ জিয়ার জীবনের উপর নির্মিত "দেশ, জাতি, জিয়াউর রহমান" শীর্ষক প্রামাণ্যচিত্র -- bnpbd.org.webm|A documentary on the life of Ziaur Rahman Bir Uttam directed by filmmaker Chashi Nazrul Islam.

Ziaur Rahman 930-2280 (cropped).jpg|Ziaur Rahman in 1979

Ziaur Rahman and Roy Jenkins Brussels 1979.jpg|Ziaur Rahman and Roy Jenkins in Brussels

• {{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Q M Jalal |date=15 June 2021 |title=President Ziaur Rahman: Legendary Leader of Bangladesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zutzzgEACAAJ |location= |publisher=Writers Republic LLC, 2021 |isbn=9781637285732}}

• List of things named after Ziaur Rahman
• President of Bangladesh
• Chief of Army Staff
• Bangladesh Nationalist Party

Footnotes

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist|group=note}}

Citations

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Baxter |first=Craig |author-link=Craig Baxter |title=Bangladesh from a Nation to a State |year=1997 |publisher=Westview Press |isbn=978-0-8133-2854-6}}
• {{cite book |last=Milam |first=William B. |author-link=William Milam |title=Bangladesh and Pakistan Flirting with Failure in South Asia |year=2009 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-70066-5}}

• {{Internet Archive author}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130615235833/http://www.kumarkhali.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26%3Aziaur-rahman&cat.. Ziaur Rahman Biography] (archived)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130509082218/http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/biography/zia.html Ziaur Rahman on Virtual Bangladesh] (archived)
• {{cite web |url=http://gunijan.org.bd/GjProfDetails_action.php?GjProfId=202 |script-title=bn:জিয়াউর রহমান |trans-title=Ziaur Rahman |last=Saha Ray |first=Chandan |website=Gunijan |language=bn}}
• [https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:VeKkDBAqEzcJ:www.fhiredekha.com/gallery/albums/documents/declassifieddoc_march26_1971b.pdf+on+march+27+the+clandestine+radio+announced+the+formation+of+a+revolutionary&hl=en&gl=bd&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShEAKibidOlOBQev7vnIxsI447K2zd4q_Cs0PLUpUChcQWkoEbBbdX4XlY4ggzWCbi-Pn9B_l3E0malX1XI3aVuFEXYMzDOs05InKeaCVyvNwY_N8mTAcX3r8K7pfB2LhQD60DD&sig=AHIEtbSTu_IbFd5XL2SDPNWjSsqPaBVNTQ US State Department Secret Telegram on Bangladesh Declaration of Independence]
• [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=44949. Former US President Jimmy Carter on President Ziaur Rahman]
• [http://texas-press-release.com/24/Khaleda%20Zia,%20the%20most%20potential%20mediator%20to%20resolve%20ME%20crisis.php Khaleda Zia, the most potential mediator to resolve ME crisis]

{{Ziaur Rahman}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziaur Rahman}}

Category:1936 births

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