Hossain Mohammad Ershad

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Hossain Mohammad Ershad (2012)

Hossain Mohammad Ershad ( Bengali : হুসেইন মুহাম্মদ এরশাদ , Husein Muhāmmad Eraśād ; born February 1, 1930 in Rangpur , Bengal , British India ; † July 14, 2019 in Dhaka ) was a lieutenant general and politician from Bangladesh . From 1983 to 1990 he was President of Bangladesh.

biography

Hossain Mohammad Ershad on a state visit in 1983

Ershad joined the Pakistani armed forces in 1952 . He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1969 . During the independence struggle of Bangladesh he was in Pakistan and after the independence of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971, he was accepted into the armed forces of the new state as Adjudant General . In 1975 he was promoted to major general and appointed Deputy Chief of Army Staff by then Army Commander , Major General Ziaur Rahman .

Ziaur Rahman made Ershad his successor as army chief when he himself became administrator of martial law on November 29, 1976 and then president of Bangladesh on April 21, 1977 , and soon afterwards promoted him to lieutenant general. As army chief, Ershad initially sided with President Abdus Sattar during the constitutional crisis following the assassination of Rahman in a failed military coup in May 1981 . However, after the 75-year-old Sattar was elected president in November 1981, he broke up because of differences of opinion about the role of the armed forces . Sattar saw the army's sole duty to ensure the defense and security of the country. Ershad initially held back until the political and economic situation caused tensions in President Sattar's government. On March 24, 1982, Ershad seized power in a bloodless coup and initially appointed himself Chief Martial Law Administrator. He retained this office and thus the actual position of power when AFM Ahsanuddin Chowdhury became president on March 27, 1982 .

On December 11, 1983, Ershad finally appointed himself president. There were numerous protests and strikes against the imposed martial law and against the Islamization of society, which the government was pursuing. Social tensions also arose with the 500,000 Biharis living in Bangladesh , most of whom had to live in camps. General Ershad tried to create incentives for foreign investors by privatizing state-owned companies and to reduce the high unemployment rate (around 30 percent). After a first calming of the domestic political situation, he resigned on March 30, 1984 the post of Supreme Martial Law Administrator.

After renewed national protests, he resigned as President on December 6, 1990 and was arrested. On 9 January 1997, he was against deposit from the criminal detention dismissed, but had in 17 cases because of corruption and abuse of office to stand trial. On November 20, 2000, he was arrested again on serving a five-year prison sentence for bribery after losing the appeal process. Ershad died on July 14, 2019 at the age of 89 in Dhaka.

Web links

Commons : Hossain Mohammad Ershad  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Former Bangladesh military dictator Ershad dies at 89. In: France 24 . July 14, 2019, accessed on July 14, 2019 .