Shaheed President General Zia: As I saw him

Forty-five years ago today, a heartbreaking event took place in Bangladesh's political and military history. At around 5:30 am, or shortly thereafter, the then Director of Army Operations, late Major General (then Brigadier) Abdul Wahed, telephoned me and instructed me to report immediately to the Army Headquarters Operations Directorate. At the time, I was serving as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Operations Section of that directorate.

In those days, being called to the office at short notice was not unusual. Sometimes, we even had to go in the middle of the night because of the arrival of President General Ziaur Rahman. During that period, he frequently discussed ways to enhance the effectiveness of the reorganised armed forces and develop military strategies suited to Bangladesh''s needs, while also providing guidance and directives. The primary responsibility for implementing those directives rested with this directorate.

Whenever we met him in the corridor, he would greet us with a gentle smile and ask, “How are you?” I would respectfully reply, “Sir, by your grace.” He would then give everyone a slight smile before proceeding to the briefing room.

We first came to know this man of few words in early 1966 at the second company of the Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul, where we Bengali cadets were undergoing training. At that time, there were two Bengali platoon commanders serving in different platoons. One was then-Captain Ziaur Rahman (who would later become Bangladesh''s Army Chief and President), and the other was the late Captain (later Major General) Abdul Mannaf.

I had already heard Ziaur Rahman's name during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. At the time, he was serving with the 1st East Bengal Regiment on the Lahore front. The regiment's record of bravery remains prominently remembered in Pakistan's military history. According to the account, it was this Bengali battalion that helped defend the city of Lahore from Indian forces during the war. After the conflict, for as long as the East Bengal Regiment remained stationed in Lahore, the people of the city reportedly treated its members with great respect and admiration.

Anyhow, it was the morning of 31 May 1981. Somehow, I managed to reach Army Headquarters that morning. As I was climbing the stairs to the office on the third floor, I encountered then-Brigadier (later General) Wahed coming down with several files in his hands. While descending, he told me to try to establish contact with Chattogram as quickly as possible and obtain details of what had happened.

He also informed me that the Circuit House had been attacked with the intention of assassinating the President.

I stood there on the stairs for a few moments in shock. As far as I can recall, the President normally did not spend the night outside Dhaka. So how had this happened? The subsequent events are well known, so I will not go into them here. See my books Roktakto Oddhay (A Bloody Chapter) and Roktakto Dingulo (The Bloody Days).

I tried to gather information about what had occurred in Chattogram. It was learned that the President had been unable to return to Dhaka because of unfavorable weather conditions and had remained there to resolve certain internal party matters.

Gradually, more details emerged: a military rebellion had broken out in Chattogram, and in the attack on the Circuit House, the President, along with two other officers, had been killed.

It later became known that the rebellion did not primarily involve enlisted soldiers; rather, it was carried out by officers of the Chattogram Division, nearly all of whom were personally known to Ziaur Rahman. It was even reported that the President's then Principal Staff Officer (PSO) had been involved in the conspiracy. Many details of the plot and the assassination have since been described in books by various authors.

Those of us who had known Ziaur Rahman since 1966 and later saw him serve as Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Army Chief, and President never imagined that he would meet such an end. For that reason, I was deeply shaken by his assassination.

On 7 November 1975, General Zia was freed from detention through what is often referred to as the Sipahi-Janata (Soldier-People) Uprising. According to the author, at that critical moment he helped save the country from a path of certain destruction. That day, I was among 20 to 25 officers who stood beside him in the Dhaka Cantonment.

During that period, many officers had been killed by members of Colonel Abu Taher's so-called "Revolutionary Soldiers Organisation". Resistance emerged not only in Dhaka but also from soldiers stationed outside the capital, and the coup led by Brigadier Khaled Mosharraf ultimately failed. The author argues that one reason for its failure was the decision to carry out the coup while keeping then-Army Chief General Zia imprisoned.

According to this account, Khaled Mosharraf, and perhaps even Abu Taher, may have underestimated the extent of Ziaur Rahman's popularity among soldiers and young military officers, which was considerably greater than their own. (See Roktakto Dingulo (The Bloody Days) for further discussion.)
Ziaur Rahman's popularity was built on his declaration of independence, his role as sector commander, and his reputation as being honest, capable and fearless. His integrity, sense of justice, and patriotism were exceptional and will remain an example for present and future generations of Bangladeshis. Even when many people opposed him, he harbored no personal animosity toward them and gave due recognition to those he considered deserving.

Another reason the Chattogram rebellion collapsed after Ziaur Rahman''s assassination was the lack of support from ordinary soldiers. Many rank-and-file soldiers in Chattogram were unwilling to accept the killing of such a popular President. Following the uprising and Zia's assassination, the coup plotters reportedly received little cooperation from the general body of soldiers.

One month after Zia's assassination, in July 1981, I joined the Command and Staff College in the United States. There were more than 120 international students from 90 countries, many of them officers from Afro-Asian nations. I recall that officers from nearly every country in the Middle East asked him the same question: "Who killed such a distinguished leader of the Muslim world, and why?" I had no answer to give them.

As President, Ziaur Rahman was extremely popular not only in the Middle East and Muslim countries, but across Afro-Asian nations as well. It may be recalled that in September 1980, a bloody war broke out between two Muslim countries, Iraq and Iran. At that time, a three-member mediation committee was formed involving the late President of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq, and two other heads of state.

Alongside the President of Guinea, Ahmed Sékou Touré, I was also a member of this committee as the President of Bangladesh, Ziaur Rahman. The committee worked repeatedly to mediate and establish peace between the two countries. President Zia’s diplomatic efforts elevated Bangladesh to the ranks of global leadership and gave the country a distinct identity among Afro-Asian nations. It was during this period that Bangladesh’s military diplomacy began to take shape.

Ziaur Rahman opened new avenues in Bangladesh’s foreign policy. He visited China for the first time in 1977, and from that time onward, relations with China were elevated to the military level. From then on, significant changes took place in Bangladesh’s foreign policy. Not only in China, but the respect he received in the United States was also rare. His foreign policy strengthened Bangladesh’s defense and security posture. One of his notable achievements was introducing and establishing the idea of SAARC for regional cooperation in South Asia.

Ziaur Rahman’s thinking on Bangladesh’s defence policy was far-sighted. I recall December–January of 1975–76. During military exercises, Zia formed the Village Defence Party (VDP) for rural security in villages and countryside areas. This reflected the long-term vision of martyred Zia.

In conclusion, it must be said that Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman remains an inspiration for many of us of that generation. For military officers of that era and those who later served alongside him during the Liberation War, General Zia and President Zia will forever remain an inspirational and ideological leader.

* M Sakhawat Hossain is a former adviser to the interim government, former Election Commissioner, and retired military officer.

* The views expressed here are there author's own.

* This piece appeared in Bangla in Prothom Alo online and has been translated for Prothom Alo English Online by Ayesha Kabir