Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Indira Gandhi and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
News Time
Former Bangladesh army general, General Hussain Mohammad Irshad passed away on July 14 this year, he was 89 years old. His death brought back memories of the ’70s. In August 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and almost all of his family were killed by Bangladeshi army rebel personnel. Then in 1981, the Bangladeshi President, General Ziaur Rahman, was also killed by some army personnel. Thus, this decade brought severe bloodshed in the region and during this time many famous people were killed, there were civil wars, constitutional changes, dictatorships, which were both civil and military. Solid rulers continued to be dictators, and military dictators continued to defy opponents. The 1970s began with military action and then war in East Pakistan.
In Afghanistan, Sardar Dawood, Noor Mohammad Turkai, Hafizullah Amin, etc. were killed and a long civil war ensued, which continues today. Many presidents and prime ministers in Iran have been changed or killed. Then 8 years after the revolution Iran, Iraq, the war continued, in which millions of people were killed and wounded. In Pakistan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto tried to seize all the powers, crushing opposition. In this endeavor, he went to power and then to his own life. This is exactly what Indira Gandhi did in India. Since we started our conversation with Bangladesh, let’s start from there.
In January 1971, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto released Mujib-ur-Rehman from Pakistani jail, then the acting president and prime minister of Bangladesh’s exiled government, Nazarul Islam and Tajuddin, respectively. Mujeeb-ur-Rehman took power after Bangladesh’s independence, so he faced many problems, such as resettlement of refugees and rebuilding the country. If you want to read just one book about this period, read Bangla Desh: A Legacy of Blood. This book analyzes the situation from 1971 to 1986. Its author is a journalist, Anne Than Mascarinas. Mujib was in power for only three-and-a-half years, during which he served as Prime Minister of Bangladesh for the first three years, January 1972 to January 1975 and then he decided to become president, so he could remain in office for 8 months. His three years as Prime Minister were no different than Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s ministry in Pakistan.
Both gave new constitution to their countries and then broke the constitution so as to consolidate their power. They tried to control the army, crushed the opposition, took control of the judiciary and imposed a kind of socialism. Both had success initially, but then the army became restless, the opposition raised its head, and the judiciary, loyalty to the changing centers of power, continued to change. One similarity between Bhutto and Mujib was that the two formed new security forces, which were directly under the Prime Minister. Bhutto formed the Federal Security Force (FSF) and Mujeeb created the National Security Force (Jatiya Rakhi Bahini). Both were used against the opposition and both heated up the market for oppression.
These forces became a blot on the name of democracy and contributed to their downfall. Both committed serious human rights abuses. A significant difference between Bangladesh and Pakistan was between the two countries’ forces. There was no organized army of Bangladesh. It included the Mukti Bahns, the old military officers and soldiers, who were trapped in Pakistan and sent to Bangladesh two years later, whereas Pakistan had a command and control system despite its defeat to India, which was rectified very quickly. This difference of forces between the two countries played a decisive role in the politics of these countries in the coming years.
The new Bangladesh Constitution was enacted in December 1972, under which an effective Prime Minister and formal President were appointed. Chaudhry was made President in both the countries. In Bangladesh, 50-year-old Abu Saeed Chaudhry and 70-year-old Fazal Elahi Chaudhry became the president in Pakistan. The difference was that there was a unicameral parliament in Bangladesh, while Pakistan’s parliament consisted of two houses. Bhutto introduced Islamic socialism, while Mujib laid down four principles – nationalism, secularism, socialism and democracy. Although Bhutto had the principles of democracy and socialism, he did not use nationalism and secularism as slogans. One difference between Bhutto and Mujib was that Bhutto made the assembly on the outcome of the 1970 elections, while Mujib cast a new ballot, which was under the 1972 constitution. Elections were held in Bangladesh in March 1973, while the Pakistani constitution was undergoing ratification. In Bangladesh, the Awami League also won a large majority in the new elections, as there was no larger and stronger political party than that, while in Pakistan, Bhutto has faced a dynamic opposition from the very beginning.
Then Bhutto’s experience of state affairs was far greater than when he was younger than Mujib, because he had been part of governments in the past. Most of Mujib and his cabinet members were not experienced in Bangladesh. Their reliance was mostly on the royal and various factions of the Awami League. Both Bhutto and Mujib made the constitution as soon as they took power, but then amended it. Mujib started the work first and in 1973 approved the first and second amendments. The First Amendment could have prosecuted anyone who had committed genocide or crimes against humanity. Some amendments could have been suspended by this amendment.
The second amendment was made in September 1973, which allowed the rights of citizens in a state of emergency. The first constitutional amendment to Pakistan took place in April 1974, which apparently aimed to eliminate the mention of East Pakistan from the constitution, but at the same time, Article 17 was changed to curtail freedom of assembly. Then under the new authority of the federal government, any political party could be declared against national integrity. Both Bhutto and Mujib took over the country’s economy, state-owned. Banks, industrial sectors were occupied in the same way as Indira Gandhi did in India. In these three countries, economic conditions worsened and corruption increased. This corruption was high among the leaders and members of the Awami League, causing a devastating increase in the effects of the 1974 famine in Bangladesh.
By the end of 1974, Mujib had come to the conclusion that drastic measures were needed to tackle economic misery and civil disobedience. Then in January 1975, a fourth constitutional amendment was introduced in Bangladesh, under which the presidential system replaced the parliamentary system. Mujib, Bhutto, also went one step further and imposed a one-party system on Bangladesh. Mujib reduced the powers of the Jatiya Sangsad, the National Assembly and the judiciary, which also reduced the independence of the Supreme Court. Mujib also extended the term of the First National Assembly. A similar increase was made by Indira Gandhi in India, but she did not go to the presidential system.
Indira Gandhi imposed an emergency in India in June 1975 and imposed civil rights. Opposition leaders were arrested, censored in newspapers and banned from any kind of protest. In Pakistan, Bhutto passed a bill in February 1975 from the National Assembly, under which special cases for terrorists were to be run in special courts. Then the opposition party, the National Awami Party (NEP), was banned, headed by Khan Abdul Ali Khan. A few days later a third constitutional amendment was approved, under which the rights of detainees were slaughtered and the powers of detainees expanded. The duration of protective detention has been increased from one month to three months. During which no proceedings were required before any review board.
Now in Pakistan, any person could be detained indefinitely. In 1975, almost identical measures were being taken at the government level in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. After the Fifth Constitutional Amendment in Bangladesh, Mujib imposed a party system, paralyzing the judiciary and the legislature, so the party was renamed Bangladesh Karshik Ceramic Awami League, which became known as Short Aksals. The participation of all members of the assembly was declared necessary in this party. Mujib had become the villain instead of the hero.
He had struggled against General Ayub Khan’s presidential system in the past, but now made his constitution more authoritarian than General Ayub’s presidential constitution. In India, in June 1975, Indira Gandhi granted herself extraordinary powers using Article 352 of the Constitution. Now she was slaughtering the rights of the people like Bhutto and Mujib. Thousands of opposition members were arrested and detained without trial. Meanwhile, the Bhutto government amended the Code of Criminal Procedure and seized the pre-arrest warrant from the courts. Such bailouts were absolutely necessary for political activists.
In the context of this whole situation, the question is important, what were the forces and the judiciary of the three countries doing in the meantime? KM Shafiullah, a 40-year-old general in Bangladesh, was the head of the army, ignoring the army’s anxiety. And kept themselves separate from politics, but still could not stop the uprising. The head of the army in India was TN Raina, 55, whom Indira Gandhi called for to assist the civil administration in an emergency, but he kept the army out of politics. General Taka Khan, 60, was the head of the army in Pakistan. He was greatly supporting Bhutto in military operations in Balochistan. In Bangladesh, the army was frantically split, but the military structure in India and Pakistan was more stable even though their thinking on politics was different. As far as the judiciary is concerned, we find that Justice Abu Saim, 60, was the Chief Justice of Bangladesh, he was away from politics, but three months after Mujib’s assassination, he joined the army and accepted the presidency. The 63-year-old Justice of India in India was Justice ANR Chief Justice, who was highly controversial by Indira Gandhi.
His appointment violated the rights of three senior judges and the move was considered an attack on the Indian Supreme Court. Obviously, Justice Ray has betrayed Indira Gandhi. In Pakistan, Justice Hamood-ur-Rehman was the Chief Justice. He has been the head of the Supreme Court since 1969. When NAB’s case appeared in the Supreme Court, Justice Hamoodur Rehman rejected the objections of two judges of Wali Khan. These judges were considered closest to Bhutto. Surprisingly, Justice Hamood-ur-Rehman, who was from East Pakistan and witnessed the consequences of declaring political leaders a traitor, stayed with Bhutto in the constitutional sabotage.
An important factor in Bangladesh was that the army was accused of treating three groups differently. That is, one faction consisted of former Mukti Bahini fighters, who were inducted into the army. The other was a former rebel soldier who had rebelled against the state of Pakistan, and the third, which had been released after being trapped in Pakistan for two years, arrived in Bangladesh. This last faction was not viewed with dignity because they were considered to be tafeli who were enjoying freedom without fighting a war. In August 1975, some mid-level army officers attacked the home of his powerful president, Mujibur Rahman, and killed him, along with three sons and other family members.
Only two of Mujib’s daughters were left, who were out of the country, one of them was Hasina Wajid, who is Bangladesh’s prime minister these days. After the coup, Mushtaq Khushkar, an old colleague of Mujib, took over and immediately changed Mujib’s policies, which suggests that they must have been involved in planning the uprising. Internal contradictions were evident in the Bangladesh army, with the revolt of some officers and the failure of General Shafiullah, the head of the army. Apparently the deputy head of the army, Major General Ziaur Rahman, was also unaware of the coup, but later events proved that he would be part of the conspiracy, as the new president removed Gen. Shafi and made Gen Zia the head of the army. During President Mushtaq’s time, four major national leaders were killed, including former acting president, Nazar-ul-Islam, two former prime ministers Tajuddin and Mansoor Ali, as well as former president of the Awami League, Qamar-ul-Zaman. Was the whole Bangladeshi army against Mujib, Mushtaq and Zia? It was not. Chief of General Staff, Brigadier Khalid Musharraf was not happy with the situation. When President Mushtaq pardoned all of Mujib’s killers just a month after the coup, Musharraf planned collaboration with Mujib’s supporters. And in November 1975, arresting the army chief, Ziaur Rahman, Musharraf promoted him to become a Major General and claimed to be the new army chief.
He ousted Mushtaq Khushkar and made Chief Justice Abu Saim the president, but only three days later, the anti-Mujib army surrendered. Musharraf was assassinated and Zia-ur-Rehman became military chief again. Ziaur Rahman retained Abu Saim as president and thus ended the story of Mujib’s supporter, Khalid Musharraf and opponent Mushtaq Khushkar. General Zia-ur-Rehman’s biggest advantage was the bloodbath. Similarly, after some time, General Ziaul Haq overthrew Bhutto and took control of Indira Gandhi’s power in India as well.
