June 1984 - BANGLADESH
Internal political developments Foreign relations
Summary and key dates
Student demonstrations against government policies (Feb. 14, 1983). Cabinet changes (July 19). Announcement of local and national elections (July 8; Nov. 14). Assumption of presidency by Gen. Ershad (Dec. 11). Government dialogue with opposition political parties (January to May 1984). Postponement of elections (May 12). Cabinet reshuffle and appointment of Prime Minister (March). Expulsion of Soviet diplomats (November 1983 to January 1984). Relations with India (October 1982 to May 1984).
The martial law regime of Lt.-Gen. Hossain Mohammad Ershad, which came to power in March 1982, announced on Nov. 14, 1983, that following local elections in December, presidential and parliamentary elections would take place in May and November 1984 respectively. The election timetable became the focus of renewed agitation by opposition political parties, despite government efforts during 1983 to widen its political base following demonstrations against certain of its policies earlier in the year.
Anti-corruption trials
The crack-down continued against allegedly corrupt ministers and officials of previous governments.
Mr Atauddin Khan, a minister of state under the regime of President Ziaur Rahman, was sentenced on Nov. 11, 1982, to seven years' 'rigorous imprisonment' while on the same day Mr AKM Mayeedul Islam, a cabinet minister until March 1982 under President Ziaur Rahman and his successor President Abdus Sattar, was arrested on corruption charges.
Mr Moudud Ahmed, a cabinet minister from June 1978 and Deputy Prime Minister from April 1979 until his dismissal by President Ziaur Rahman in January 1980 was arrested on Nov. 14, 1982, after student violence on Nov. 8. Charged with corruption, he was acquitted of the main charges but found guilty on minor charges and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment and fined heavily for 'abuse of official power'; he was released, however, on July 8, 1983.
Gen. Ershad announced on Dec. 11, 1982, that 555 government officials would be brought before a scrutiny committtee but that other corruption cases would be dropped to prevent disruption of official work. It was reported on May 18, 1983, that 112 civil servants (including eight senior bureaucrats) had been dismissed for inefficiency and corruption and that a further 100 had been reprimanded, while 450 others were under investigation for nepotism or embezzlement of public funds.
Opposition to government policies
Lawyers took part in demonstrations in mid-October 1982 to protest against government measures to decentralize the judiciary which the government claimed would make justice swifter and cheaper. Following a boycott of the Supreme Court on Oct. 10, 12 lawyers, including a former attorney general, were arrested for alleged anti-government activities.
The High Court had formerly resided solely in the capital, Dhaka. (The spelling change from Dacca was announced on Oct. 5, 1982, and took effect from Jan. 19, 1983.) However, high court benches had been set up in June 1982 in five district towns, and civil courts were taken down to the upazilla or sub-district level (for recent local government re-organization, and below), but were to function independently of the upazilla councils.
Students protested in late 1982 and early 1983 against government proposals to introduce Arabic as a compulsory language in primary schools-this being seen as an attempt to Islamicize the country's secular education system. Gen. Ershad said on Dec. 22, 1982, that he favoured a constitution based on the principles of the Koran and that he wished to foster an Islamic revival movement by introducing a compulsory Islamic education.
A curfew was imposed in Dhaka on Feb. 14 following clashes between students and police in which one person died and 100 were injured. As protests spread, the government responded on Feb. 15 by extending the curfew to four other cities, closing all universities and schools, imposing press censorship and arresting 1,400 demonstrators (although most were released after questioning). A number of opposition politicians were also arrested, including Sheikh Hasina Wajed of the Awami League (daughter of the late Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister from 1972 to 1975 and then President until he was killed in the August 1975 coup A; ) and Begum Khaleda Zia (widow of President Ziaur Rahman who was assassinated in May 1981), the vice-chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP-Sattar), as well as two former Foreign Ministers, Mr Kamal Hossain and Mr Abdul Samad Azad. Students failed in an attempt to stage a further demonstration on Feb. 16 in Chittagong.
It was reported on Feb. 18 that the proposed education changes had been suspended, while on March 3 the Education and Religious Affairs portfolios were separated, with Mr A Majid Khan remaining as Minister of Education (as well as of Science, Technology and Cultural Affairs) while the religious affairs aspect was incorporated into the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
Easing of political controls
Gen. Ershad on Feb. 18, 1983, proposed a 'national dialogue' between the armed forces and all political groups to defuse the crisis situation resulting from the Feb. 14 riots and to discuss matters such as the drafting of a new constitution and the transfer of power to a civilian government. On March 25, the martial law ban on indoor political meetings was lifted (campaigning in public remaining illegal) and press censorship was eased in order to facilitate discussion of the proposals. The government opened a dialogue with leaders of individual political parties on April 28, but only 10 minor parties agreed to participate.
To create an atmosphere conducive to talks, Gen. Ershad had on March 19 ordered the release of all students and other persons taken into custody in connexion with the February riots. This followed the release on March 1 of 26 political leaders including Sheikh Hasina and Begum Zia.
Party developments
Both major opposition parties, the BNP and the Awami League, suffered splits in 1983.
Former President Abdus Sattar survived a challenge in early April 1983 to his leadership of the BNP from Mr Shamsul Huda Chowdhury and Prof. Dr MA Matin. Both men subsequently left the party to join the newly-formed Jana Dal or People's Party. Mr Sattar resigned as chairman of the BNP on Jan. 13, 1984, and was replaced by Begum Zia who was elected to the position unopposed in May.
A split within the Awami League was formalized on Oct. 11, 1983, when Mr Abdur Razzak and six officials were expelled for anti-party activities. The two groups were known initially as the Awami League (Hasina) and the Awami League (Razzak), but the latter was renamed on Oct. 22 the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL) after the original party founded by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
On April 9 an alliance was launched of 11 right-wing and Islamic parties called the National United Front (NUF) led by Mr Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmed (who had been President of Bangladesh for three months in 1975 after the killing of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman A; ).
A 22-party alliance called the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) was formed in September on the basis of a five-point programme agreed between the Awami League (Hasina), which headed a 15-party alliance formed in early 1983, and the BNP-Sattar which led a seven-party alliance. A rally was held by the MRD on Sept. 30.
The five demands were for the lifting of bans on political activity; (ii) the release of all political prisoners; (iii) the ending of press censorship; (iv) an end to military rule; and early parliamentary elections to be held before presidential elections. The two groupings remained divided over constitutional questions; the BNP-Sattar favoured the restoration of the 1972 constitution along with the amendment creating a presidential form of government, while the Awami League (Hasina) supported the 1972 constitution in its original form.
Mr Justice AFM Assanuddin Choudhury, who had been President of Bangladesh since March 1982, announced on Nov. 27, 1983, the formation of the Jana Dal or People's Party, a pro-government party with a manifesto advocating Islamic ideals and values, democracy and progress, and working for nationalism.
On Nov. 22, Gen. Ershad had said that the socio-economic and political programme of the new party would be identical to an 18-point programme announced by the government in March, which embodied Gen. Ershad's economic and development programmes and called for agricultural self-sufficiency and full employment. Furthermore, the party's membership would come from members of the 18-point programme implementation committees (which had been set up in July at sub-district and municipal levels after vetting by the armed forces) together with other political organizations supporting that programme, notably two student and youth organizations and the Free Trade Union.
The party provided Gen. Ershad with a strong organization and platform to contest the forthcoming national elections. Although he had on Oct. 27, 1982, extended his term of office as Chief of the Armed Forces by two years 'in the country's greater interest', he indicated in a number of statements and interviews during 1983 his intention to retire from the Army and enter a presidential election. In an interview in the Far Eastern Economic Review published on Sept. 1, 1983, he stated: 'If the people of the country so desire and they would like me to join politics, I will. If I join politics, naturally I will have to leave uniform, but when and how had not been decided as yet.'
July 1983 cabinet reshuffle Legislation on cruelty to women
In a cabinet reshuffle announced on July 19, Maj.-Gen. Abdul Mannan Siddique was transferred from the Ministry of Public Works and Urban Development to become Minister of Home Affairs vice Maj.-Gen. VMK Choudhury. Maj.-Gen. Choudhury was appointed to the newly-created Ministry of Establishment and Reorganization, and Maj.-Gen. Mohammad Abdul Munim became Minister of Public Works and Urban Development. (For previous cabinet list and for subsequent changes )
Maj.-Gen. Choudhury was known to be an opponent of a return to civilian rule; foreign observers suggested that the reshuffle aimed to strengthen the role of more centrist elements within the Army, who were acceptable to a broader spectrum of public opinion, and to consolidate military backing for moving towards elections. A report in the Indian Hindustan Times newspaper of Delhi quoted 'highly-placed diplomatic sources' as saying that Gen. Ershad had survived an attempted coup by officers in early July.
Dr Shafia Katun, Minister of Social Welfare and Women's Affairs, announced on Oct. 10 new legislation to deal with the 'immense proportions' of the problem of cruelty to women; severe penalties were introduced, including the death penalty, for those found guilty of offences such as rape, kidnapping and coercion over dowries.
Announcement of local and national elections
A three-stage timetable for local elections was announced on July 8, 1983. Union council elections were to take place on Dec. 27, 1983; those for municipal corporations on Feb. 11, 1984; and upazilla elections on March 24. Gen. Ershad also announced on Nov. 14 that presidential elections would be held on May 24, 1984, and parliamentary elections on Nov. 25, 1984, under the amended 1972 constitution which had set up a multi-party presidential system of government. At the same time he declared that all restrictions on political activity would be lifted immediately 'if peace and discipline' were ensured.
Since taking power in March 1982, Gen. Ershad had repeatedly said that his regime was committed to the restoration of democracy after the introduction of basic administrative changes in order to ensure 'viable grass-roots democracy'.
The Nov. 14 statement followed a six-hour general strike on Nov. 1 to demand an end to martial law. The strike, called by opposition political parties, was to be the prelude to a 12-day anti-martial law campaign due to begin on Nov. 16. It also came shortly after Gen. Ershad's return from an official visit on Oct. 25-26 to the USA, where he had promised that Bangladesh would return to democracy, and only hours before the arrival of Queen Elizabeth II for an official tour of Bangladesh prior to the Commonwealth Conference in Delhi on Nov. 24, which Gen. Ershad was also to attend.
On Sept. 13, the Local Government Union Parishad Ordinance 1983 was promulgated outlining the new four-tier structure of government as set out in the April 1982 report in preparation for the holding of elections.
A series of anti-government demonstrations took place in late 1983 in protest against the election timetable. On Nov. 28 a rally attended by 25,000 people led to violent clashes with the police, in which four people were killed and 500 injured after a small group tried to storm the Martial Law Secretariat. A curfew was imposed in Dhaka and extended on Nov. 30 to Chittagong where two demonstrators were killed during protests against police brutality in Dhaka.
Following these disturbances Gen. Ershad suspended the two-week-old relaxation of martial law regulations, thereby restoring the ban on political activity, and accused opposition leaders of seeking to undermine his attempts to restore democracy. Dhaka and Rajshahi Universities were closed and the BNP newspaper, Dainik Desh, was banned (until Dec. 11). Begum Zia and Sheikh Hasina were among 130 people arrested for involvement in the demonstration while many opposition leaders were reported to be in hiding.
Opposition politicians asserted that the elections were a device to perpetuate the power of the military government, and claimed that Gen. Ershad's position and his reforms of local government would ensure his success in local and presidential elections, thus rendering an opposition victory in the parliamentary elections increasingly difficult. Opposition demands called for the lifting of martial law and the return of power to the elected government of former President Sattar, which would then oversee early parliamentary elections. On Nov. 17 Gen. Ershad claimed that Mr Sattar had freely handed power to him, a statement that Mr Sattar denied as a 'travesty of the truth'.
Assumption of presidency by Gen. Ershad
Gen. Ershad announced on Dec. 11 that he had assumed the office of President vice Mr Choudhury who became convenor of the Jana Dal party. The erstwhile members of the Council of Ministers were reappointed as members of a presidential Cabinet. The statement coincided with the end of a foreign ministerial meeting of the Islamic Conference Organization in Dhaka on Dec. 6-11.
Gen. Ershad's appointment was seen as a move to consolidate his position as a presidential figure prior to the elections and to increase his room for manoeuvre with the opposition over the proposed elections. There were reports that he was also seeking to recruit into his government Begum Zia, whose popularity had become evident in rallies held after the lifting of political bans on Nov. 14.
Dialogue with the opposition Advancement of parliamentary election date Breakdown of talks and postponement of elections
The government made a number of conciliatory moves in early 1984 in order to bring opposition parties into dialogue. Talks with 41 minor opposition parties began on Jan. 7 but were boycotted by the main 22-party MRD alliance despite an apparent slowing in the momentum of the opposition campaign.
Gen. Ershad had extended an invitation to talks on Dec. 11, prior to which eight leading politicians including Begum Zia and Sheikh Hasina had been freed from arrest, while on Dec. 14 the government claimed to have released all others detained after the Nov. 28 political violence.
On Jan. 7, 1984, limited political activity was restored. In an attempt to avert a general strike on March 1, Gen. Ershad announced on Feb. 29 that elections for parliament would be brought forward to take place concurrently with presidential elections on May 27.
Opposition leaders had called off an earlier general strike scheduled for Dec. 20, after informal talks with the government, while another call for a general strike on Jan. 4, 1984, went largely unheeded. Furthermore, the first two stages of local elections in December and February were reportedly received enthusiastically by voters despite incidents of violence which left eight dead and caused voting to be suspended at a number of polling centres.
In the eight-hour strike on March 1, two died and 150 were injured in clashes between demonstrators and police. Notwithstanding Gen. Ershad's announcement on bringing forward the parliamentary poll, opposition leaders said the sub-district elections scheduled for March 24 would occur 'over our dead bodies' and declared March 24 a 'black day' which would be preceded by an 'election resistance fortnight'.
On March 5, elections authorities admitted that 499 candidates had withdrawn from the sub-district elections. In a subsequent police crackdown Begum Zia and Sheikh Hasina were placed under house arrest (but were released on March and 300 activists were detained, including Shah Azizur Rahman, former Prime Minister in 1979-82, and Mr Abdul Mannan, former Minister of Health and Family Planning under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. However, there were further anti-government demonstrations during March and on April 4 more than 1,000,000 people staged an anti-martial law rally in Dhaka.
Gen. Ershad on March 18 postponed the sub-district elections until after the presidential and parliamentary elections, saying he wished 'to pave the way for national unity, dialogue and understanding for reaching the ultimate objective of transition to democracy by maintaining a peaceful atmosphere'.