Lingering curse of autocracy

Three and a half decades ago, people of Bangladesh ousted the country's first autocratic regime through a mass uprising that reached its climax during the last three months of 1990. The united stance of all the students' organisations, keeping aside their political rivalry for the time being, on October 10 of the year became the ultimate turning point of the mass movement. On the day, Jihad, an activist of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) was shot dead in Dhaka during the anti-Ershad movement. Killing of Jihad triggered massive protests across the country while student leaders of Dhaka University took oath to move together until the fall of the autocratic Ershad. 

The following 55 days were eventful as students inspired the mass people to join the agitation and also compelled the leading political parties intensify movement. Things turned another crucial stage on November 27 when physician Shamsul Alam Khan Milon was killed by goons of Ershad at Dhaka University campus. It sparked horror and anger among the people and issued the final call for Ershad. People dared to defy curfew and police barricades across the country making it impossible for Ershad government to keep the state functional.  

Sensing the helplessness of the autocratic regime, the two major political parties, led by Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, along with others made the final push. Finding no other way dictator Ershad, who had been in power for more than eight years, announced his decision to step down on December 4.  This scribe, then a college student, vividly remembered the moment of getting the news through Voice of America Bangla service at night. On December 6, the dictator formally resigned by handing over the power to Shahabuddin Ahmed, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, as the acting president. Thus, people of Bangladesh witnessed another victory at their long fight to restore democracy.

Looking back, the democratic movement against the dictatorial regime of Erashd faced a series of barriers due to division among the political parties. On March 24 in 1982, H M Ershad, the then army chief, forcefully removed democratically elected president Abdus Sattar and declared himself as Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA). As Sattar was nominated a candidate of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Ershad's action was mainly targeted against the political party founded by Major Ziaur Rahman, the first military ruler of Bangladesh.  The assassination of Zia on May 30 in 1981 was a turning point in the history of Bangladesh that opened the window for more than a decade-long dictatorial regime in the country. 

After the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with his family members except two daughters on August 15 in 1975, the country entered into an uncharted territory as following months were turbulent with bloodsheds and uncertainty. Zia, however, took over as CMLA in 1976 and became the sixth president of Bangladesh on 21 April in 1977. He gradually brought some stability in the country and re-introduced multi-party democracy and founded BNP though many of his moves and works were contentious. Some people term 15 years of Zia-Ershad regime (1975-1990) as a black chapter in the history of Bangladesh whereas many argue that Mujib regime (1972-1975) was nothing but chaotic and full of misrule. The truth is, however, complex and it is not easy to evaluate the Mujib and Zia regimes dispassionately. 

Erahsd regime was full of bad governance and intimidation though the dictator apparently tried to improve the lives of people with a limited success. He largely ignored the demand for democracy and economic advancement. His artificial effort to democratise the country by arranging third and fourth national elections in 1986 and 1988 flopped. To validate his illegal power grabbing he held a national referendum in 1985 and claimed that with 70 per cent turnaround he won over 90 per cent of  'yes' vote despite a clear boycott by mass people. In this process, he distorted the election culture and institutions. The list of his misdeed is long.

Interestingly, after his ouster in 1990, Ershad got a political lifeline in 1996 when Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) returned to power after 21 years and Hasina became the prime minister for the first time. An unseen future of alliance had seeded and Ershad continued to support Hasina until his death on July 14 in 2019. A dictator extended his support to another dictator only to undermine the democratic aspiration of the mass people.

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