Assassination in Bangladesh

Press, 2 June 1981, Page 20

Assassination in Bangladesh

The assassination of President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh was almost certainly part of an intended coup d’etat under which Major-General Manzur Ahmed would come to power. The assassination bid was successful but the coup bid was not. The country remains in the hands of the present Government and the rebel stronghold at the port city of Chittagong has collapsed after a couple of days without' gaining any concessions from the Government. . Doubtless the offer of amnesty to the rebelling troops helped deplete Major-General Manzur’s forces, but if he did the plotting then he appears to have made a major miscalculation both about the stability of the Government and the amount of support he would attract. It> seems improbable that he will get another chance.

The removal of President Zia may yet have important consequences for the politics of Bangladesh. The party which he led, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party was formed as a coalition of apparently disparate elements. What held them together, many suspected, was President Zia. The coalition stands a chance of disintegrating now that President Zia no longer leads it. Such an event would wreak havok in Bangladesh’s political scene because the B.N.P. holds 210 of the 300 seats in Parliament. The Awami League is the next strongest party and holds only 39. Outside the political parties the Army is by far the strongest force. Major-General Manzuar appears to have hoped that his power base would be in the Armed Forces but so far the Armed Forces hav,e remained loyal to the Government. Whether they will decide to take matters into their own hands may depend on how long the Government stays united enough to appear a viable force in Bangladesh's politics.

Politics in Bangaldesh became more complicated recently when the Awami League elected Mrs Hasina Wazed, a daughter of Bangladesh’s first President, Mujibur Rahman, as its leader. Mrs Wazed had been living in India since her father was assassinated in 1975. She returned to Bangladesh a few weeks ago swearing that those who were involved in the plot against her father would be brought to justice.

President Zia, who was the Martial Law Administrator from 1975 until he became President in 1977, pardoned the plotters who are believed to have diplomatic posts abroad. Mrs Wazed’s association with India led to suspicions being expressed that her election as Awami League leader was brought about by Mrs Gandhi of India. Relations between India and Bangladesh, which were very close after the birth of Bangladesh —■ an event brought about by the intervention of Indian troops — deteriorated after the assassination of President Mujib and have not been particularly close since.. Recently India occupied a border island claimed by both but which both agreed to be uninhabitable. Dacca protested vigorously to New Delhi. If the assassination brings about political stability in Bangladesh, India will probably try to seek domination of the country. As President of Bangladesh,’ Zia had some success in a desperately poor country. Last year Bangladesh succeeded in growing enough rice to feed itself. The jute industry, which is the biggest export industry, has been hit not only by the world recession, but also by poor organisation. President Zia’s ambitious development programmes depended heavily on aid; not surprisingly some of his rhetoric was not matched by economic performance, but he appeared generally to be heading in. the right direction. He managed to slow the rate of increase in population c'

country by having family planning me. taught — always a tricky problem in a Muslim country. One of the nastiest events which occurred while he was President was the driving of the aboriginal population from the hills near Chittagong to be replaced by Bengali settlers. Other criticisms of him have included the slowness with which such wealth as the country possessed was spread throughout the community. In spite of these aspects, which may not be able to be laid directly at his door, President Zia will be missed. He lacked the popular touches of his predecessor, President Mujib, but he was sounder economically. Bangladesh was born in massacres; it is a matter of great sadness that within 10, years of the country’s birth two of its Presidents have died by assassination.