Who was Bangladesh’s India-born general who made Islam the country’s state religion?

Shortly after Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and made a dramatic exit from the country on board a military aircraft to India, the minority population of Hindus residing in Bangladesh became targets of violence.

The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) reported that between Monday and Tuesday, a large number of Hindu homes and businesses were vandalised, and numerous temples were damaged. There were also reports of Hindu temples being vandalised — an ISKCON and a Kali temple in Bangladesh were targeted by demonstrators.

The attacks on Hindus in the aftermath of Hasina’s ouster put the spotlight on the country’s religious composition — Hindus make up about eight per cent of Bangladesh’s population — and the man who made Islam the national religion of Bangladesh — General Hussain Muhammad Ershad.

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Notably, it was Sheikh Hasina in 2011 that reinstated secularism as one of the fundamental principles of Bangladesh’s constitution, but reaffirmed Islam as the state religion.

As the Southeast Asian nation now grapples with political turmoil as well as communal unrest, let’s take a closer look at General Hussain Muhammad Ershad.

Born in India

General Hussain Mohammad Ershad, who died in July 2019, dominated the country for most of the 1980s and early ‘90s after he snatched power in Bangladesh through a bloodless coup in 1982, just 11 years after its independence from Pakistan.

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Notably, he is the only one referred to as “the dictator” in Bangladeshi political vernacular even though the country has been governed by leaders with varying degrees of dictatorial aspirations since the 1950s.

However, it’s interesting to note that the army chief had roots in India. He was born on February 1, 1930, in the Coochbehar district of West Bengal state in India, which was under British rule at the time. His parents, Mokbul Hossain and Mazida Khatun, migrated to what is now Bangladesh but was then part of Pakistan in 1948, after the end of British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent.

Ershad attended Carmichael College, Rangpur, then the University of Dhaka, graduating in 1950. After officer training school in Kohat, Pakistan, then at the Command and Staff College in Quetta, in 1969 he was made a commanding officer in the East Bengal Regiment. However, during the war of his country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, he was interned and repatriated to Bangladesh in 1973.

Rise to the top

He gained prominence in Bangladesh when army chief of staff General Ziaur Rahman appointed Ershad as his deputy in 1975. Due to his professionalism and talent for Bengali speechwriting, Ershad became one of Rahman’s closest politico-military advisers. He was promoted to chief of staff and the rank of lieutenant general in 1978.

In May 1981, Bangladesh was left in shock when Rahman was assassinated by a faction of Bangladesh army officers. Following Rahman’s killing, his Vice President Abdus Sattar automatically became acting president. Ershad was initially loyal to Sattar, but a year later in 1982, he overthrew a frail Sattar, forcing him to sign a statement declaring himself president.

As president of Bangladesh, he suspended the constitution, disbanded parliament and reportedly also harassed and tortured his political opponents.

The Guardian reports that under Ershad’s rule, Bangladesh was not a land of mass terror, imprisonment and execution. It was, rather, a country where cynicism and despair were almost palpable; where corruption reached into every corner.

Many report that he also cultivated this image of him being a poetic, cultured man. In fact, he would often arrive late to international conferences with the excuse that he had just been “penning a couple of stanzas”.

In 1986, he created the Jatiya Party, which has since remained a significant electoral force.

Ershad served as president until 1990 when he was forced to step down following weeks of anti-government, pro-democracy protests in a mass uprising led by Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina. The following year, Ershad was arrested and jailed on corruption charges. He was acquitted of many of them but convicted of corruption and imprisoned for six years. He was also accused of backing a 1991 military coup in which one of his close military associates was killed. That case was still pending until his death.

Despite his jail term, Ershad remained a dominant force in politics until the time of his demise. In the 2013 and 2018 elections, he provided Hasina with the crucial political legitimacy that her government required.

Islamisation of Bangladesh

In 1988, General Ershad, as president, amended Bangladesh’s constitution and made Islam the official religion of the country. Until then, Bangladesh had been a secular nation, with secularism even being penned down as one of the pillars of the constitution.

Many note that Ershad’s move, which was aimed at gaining popularity, was in line with his mentor, General Ziaur Rahman’s belief. Rahman had first begun the process of Islamisation of the constitution in the 1970s and Ershad continued this in his regime.

Ershad introduced the controversial Fifth and Eighth Amendments respectively, which had the effect of erasing the founding, pro-secular principles of the country. Many watchers note that these amendments brought about changes in the country’s politics and also provided a conducive ground for Islamists to grow.

Later, in 2011, Hasina and her Awami League repealed the Fifth Amendment and reinstated secularism in the constitution; she also declared that Islam would be the state religion. She also passed a law that ensured that the State would provide equal status and equal rights to those who practise other religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity. It also said the principle of secularism shall be realised by the elimination of communalism in all its forms, the granting of political status for any religion, the prevention of the abuse of religion for political purposes and the ending of discrimination against or persecution of persons on religious grounds.

It is left to be seen if the principle of secularism is practised in Bangladesh following Hasina’s ouster.

With inputs from agencies