Internet Service Providers in Bangladesh
Bangladesh Other cities
Sylhet
Sylhet has a population of almost 0.7 milliom people and has one medical college, one University, and one cadet college. It is at present a divisional headquarter and the city of the Mausaleumm of Hazrat Shahajalal( Rahm ) and the birth place of Bangobir General Mohammed Ataul Gani Osmani, the commander in chief of the Bangladesh Forces during our liberation war. It has an Army Cantonment ( but not full division ), and the country’s 3rd largest airport.
Jessore
Jessore has a population of nearly 0.6 million. It has an education Board, a cantonment with a full division, the Bangladesh Air Force Academy with 4th largest Airport in our country, some jute and textile industries and 8 Daily news papers in both Bangla and English. At present, there are 8 degree colleges in the city proper.
Comilla
Comilla has almost 0.5 million people. It has a cantonment with full division, the Bangladesh Rural Academy, a Cadet college, a Medical college and a Education Board.
Bogra
Bogra with nearly 0.5 million population and some pharmaceutical industries, textile, medical college and cantonment with a full division.
Rajshahi
Rajshahi with nearly 0.4 million people and divisional headquarter, university, engineering university (RUET), medical college, education board, cadet college and a cantonment ( not full division ) and an airport Although, there are so many educational institutions and government offices in Rajshahi, it’s population is still less than those of the above mentioned cities of Bangladesh. Rajshahi is called a student city. And it is one of our four metropolitan cities.
Barisal
Barisal is a city with nearly 0.38 million people and a divisional headquarter, medical college, cadet college, some pharmaceutical industries, textile industries and the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority’s head office. Barisal is fast growing city of our country stands on the Kirtan Khola River. Recently, country’s first short landing and take off airport has been completed over there in Barisal and a private Airlines named Air Bengal has begun its regular air flight between Dhaka’s Tejgaon Airport and Barisal.
Bangladesh Khulna City
Khulna with nearly 2 million people and one of the country’s industrial city stands on the Rupsa River.
Map of Khulna City
Courtesy: Bangladesh Government
It is a divisional headquarter in southwestern Bangladesh. An important river port and produce collection and trade center, it is connected by river steamer, road, and rail to the major cities of the southern Gangetic delta. Shipyards are located 3 miles (5 km) south, on the Kazibacha River. Forest products from the Sundarbans External Linksupply Khulna’s industries, which include jute, oilseed, cotton-textile, paper, and board mills and match and newsprint factories.
Khulna is one of our four metropolitan cities and has a university, a Medical college, an engineering university (KUET), a Cantonment (Zahanabad Sena Nibash not with a full division), a Naval Base (BNS Titumir) , the country’s only Telephone Cable and Newsprint industry. Bangladesh’s largest ship building industry is also there.
Bangladesh Chittagong City
Chittagong is the chief port of Bangladesh and has extensively developed port facilities for ocean steamers.
Situated on the Karnaphuli River some 19 km (12 mi) from its mouth at the Bay of Bengal, Chittagong is the commercial and manufacturing center of the nation, with a population of 1,750,000 (1986 est.).
The city’s many industries, powered by a hydroelectric plant up the river, use the products of the area–jute, cotton, rice, tea, petroleum (from offshore installations), and bamboo. The bamboo is harvested chiefly from the Chittagong Hill tracts, 13,191 sq. km (5,093 sq. mi) of rugged, thickly forested land along the Bay of Bengal that is inhabited by mountain tribes who have opposed recent Bengali settlement in the area. Chittagong’s setting is picturesque: it is surrounded by the bay, the river, and hills that culminate in mountains up to 1,200 m (4,000 ft) high. Rainfall averages 2,870 mm (113 in) annually, and the average annual temperature is 26 degree C (78 degree F).
An ancient city, Chittagong passed from Tippera (Buddhist) dominance to Arakan (Hindu) and then Moghul (Muslim) rule, with periods of reconquest and recontrol. The Portuguese made inroads in the 16th century, and the British gained control in 1760.
Court Building: Situated on the Fairy Hill, this building commands a magnificent bird’s eye view of Chittagong city, particularly at night. This gigantic Judge Court building was built immediately after the East India Company conquered and declared Chittagong as a separate administrative area in 1773. The building is huge, over 250 thousand square feet and has hundreds of rooms.
Shrine of Bayazid Bostami:This holy shrine attracts a large number of visitors and pilgrims. At its base there is a large pond with several hundred tortoises floating in the water. According to tradition, these turtles are descendants of evil spirits (djinn) who were cast into this shape because they incurred the wrath of the great saint who visited the place about 1100 years ago.
Chandanpura Mosque: Situated in the old city, the multi domed mosque is an architectural sight to behold.
World war II Cemetery:In this well-preserved cemetery at quiet and picturesque place lie buried over 700 soldiers from commonwealth countries and Japan.The War Cemetry is located in a hillside sloping place, in the south-western corner of Chittagong Medical College Hospital, beside the Badshah Mia Road of the city. The total area of this cemetry is eight acres, which is protected and supervised by the Common wealth Graves Commission.
Foy’s Lake: Set amidst panoramic surroundings, this ideal spot for outings and picnics is thronged by thousands of visitors.This Lake has been created in the natural environment in 1924 by the initiative of the then Asam-Bengal Railway. This lake has been created by building a dam based on a plan by an English nngineer Mr. Foy.
Ethnological Museum: A unique treasure house of variety of tribal culture and heritage of Bangladesh.The Ethnological Museum of Chittagong was established in the first half of nineteen sixties. The museum contains four galleries and a small hall.
Patenga Beach: Sandy beach at the meeting place of the roaring sea and the river Karnaphuli.
Bangladesh Dhaka City
Dhaka, formerly Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. It is located in the geographic center of the country in the great deltaic region of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers. Dhaka is served by the port of Narayanganj, located 16 km (10 mi) to the southeast. The city is within the monsoon climate zone, with an annual average temperature of 25 deg C (77 deg F) and monthly means varying between 18 deg C (64 deg F) in January and 29 deg C (84 deg F) in August. Nearly 80% of the annual average rainfall of 1,854 mm (73 in) occurs between May and September.
Dhaka is located in one of the world’s leading rice- and jute-growing regions. Its industries include textiles (jute, muslin, cotton) and food processing, especially rice milling. A variety of other consumer goods are also manufactured here. The Muslim influence is reflected in the more than 700 mosques and historic buildings found throughout the city. Dhaka is divided into an old city and the new city, and many residential and industrial communities.
Dhaka was founded during the 10th century. It served as the Mogul capital of Bengal from 1608 to 1704 and was a trading center for British, French, and Dutch interests before coming under British rule in 1765. In 1905 it was again named the capital of Bengal, and in 1956 it became the capital of East Pakistan. The city suffered heavy damage during the Bangladesh war of independence (1971). The romanized spelling of the Bengali name was changed from Dacca to Dhaka in 1982.
Cities of Bangladesh
Cities of Bangladesh
Bangladesh is primarily a rural country with most people living outside of the urban areas. However, this demographic is fast changing and Bangladesh is seeing the rise of huge metropolises.
Dhaka, the capital, is one of the largest cities in the world, with a population close to 10 million. Come and tour some of the larger cities of Bangladesh.
Dhaka The capital of Bangladesh.
Chittagong Port city in the south east.
Khulna Port city in the south west.
Other cities Sylhet, Rajshahi, Mymensingh etc.
Bangladesh History Eyewitness accounts Rafiqul Islam
Professor Rafiqul Islam
[Translated by Zunaid Kazi]
25th March 1971. Universities were closed because of the non- cooperation movement; neither students nor teachers were attending classes. Even then one has to go back a little bit to speak about the events of 25th March. The elections had established the supremacy of the Bengali majority. Consequently, the power to rule the country should have been vested in the hands of their elected representatives, but the authoritarian ruling clique of the west were in no mood to accept the judgement of the people. That is why they cancelled promised sitting of the parliament on the third of March.
In the face of this insult, Bengalis became defiant. The Bangobondhu’s thunderous declaration in a mammoth public meeting on the 7th of March – “ebArer shongrAm shAdhinatAr shongrAm: This struggle is the struggle for independence” – began to echo in the skies of Bangladesh. That struggle began with non-cooperation, court boycotts, tax revolt, meetings, processions and other mass actions. The Pakistani government became totally paralyzed.
The incapacitated totalitarian government was incensed and gave vent to it’s fury on the black night of 25th March.
Dhaka citizens were apprehensive that the aggressor army might take recourse to a blood-bath. Innumerable barricades were built across the streets and roads of Dhaka. But, they were futile. Soon after day-break, the barbaric attack commenced. Numerous tanks and armored carriers took to the streets. Doors and windows of houses began to reverberate with the sounds of firing cannons, shells and mortars. The deafening rolls of the weapons of death shattered the silence of dusk. And it appeared as if tongues of flame were dancing the dance of daemons on the stage of a blood red sky. Dhaka has been transformed into a bloody war field.
Just like the previous days, some of us had gathered at the University Teachers Meeting Room. Under the aegis of the teachers association we were busy through out the month of March in arranging protest meetings and processions and putting out joint statements. Everyday work always awaited us, and that day was no different. Doctor Khan Sarwar Murshed had prepared a statement that we were planning to present to the British high Commission. Just a few days ago, a news item was published where we learnt that the British Government had permitted the Pakistani Navy access to the port facilities of the then British protectorate of Maldives for repairs and refuelling. We were apprehensive that if at our hour of need the Indian Navy puts up a naval blockade along Pakistani shores, Pakistani ships might attempt to reach Chittagong by way of the Maldives. that is why we were appealing to the British; our statement professed our great concern at the purported action. for several days we attempted to collect signatures form well known citizens. Former Ambassador Kamruddin Ahmed signed, whereas former governor Sultanuddin refused to sign our statement.
On the morning of 25th March Doctor Murshed, Doctor Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, Doctor Belayet, Professor Ahsanul Haque, Professor Giasuddin Ahmed (later murdered by Al-Badr), Professor Joynul Abedeen (deceased) amongst others presented our statement to the first secretary at the British Deputy High Commission. On our return to Campus we came across the leaders of Central Students Action Committee Tofael Ahmed and Sheikh Kamal. Sheikh Kamal had come to campus to pick up Tofael Ahmed. Tofael Ahmed told us that the meeting between Yah Yah and the Sheikh Shaheb had ended without agreement; no one knew what might happen.
In the afternoon I went to the University club. All the teachers there were pretty worked up. Some were berating the Awami League leadership for not having yet declared independence. In the evening, the Seven O’clock English news on TV we heard of the Bangobondhu’s news conference earlier in the day. There he had said – If the Pakistani Army attacked the innocent and peace loving Bengalis then the gallant sons of Bengal will not let that pass unchallenged… etc.. On the way home from the club that night I met up with some known students students from Iqbal Halls. Two students Feroze and Moin told me that they were leaving Iqbal Hall for safety. They advised me to take my family elsewhere to safety since my house was so near Iqbal Hall. But it was already 10 at night, where could we go? I had no premonitions of what was going to befall us two hours hence.
Behind Iqbal Hall were University quarters 23, 24 and 25. In total 24 teachers stayed in those buildings with their families. I was a resident of the second floor of building 24. Doctor Fazlur Rahman of the Botany Department lived in building 23. In the same building Professors Anwar Pasha and Rashidul Hassan resided with their families in the apartments on the fourth floor. Just across from building 25 was the Nilkhet railroad. On the other side of the rail-line there was a slum where several thousand homeless eked out a leaving. In front of our buildings and parallel to the Nilkhet Road was four residences of University Administrative Officers. From the night of 35th March through the morning of the 27th Iqbal Hall and the adjoining residences were the main target of the Pakistani Army attack.
Just after midnight on the night of 25th March, the Pakistani Army began their attack on the Student Halls and Staff Quarters of the University. Since Iqbal Hall was known as the head- quarters of the Free Bengal Students Action Committee a major portion of the Pakistani Army fury was directed at Iqbal Hall. Just after midnight Iqbal Hall came under a barrage of heavy mortar and machine-gun attack from near the pond in front and the police barracks behind it. Immediately students and bearers from the Hall, and Bengali Policemen from the Nilkhet Barracks tried to escape and seek refuge in the adjoining teacher’s and staff quarters. The Bengali soldiers of the EPR who were on duty at the President’s House were disarmed and then to Ramna Race-Course where they were gunned down. Several EPR soldiers managed to flee and found refuge amongst our midsts. The Army set on fire the Nilkhet slum and in cold-blood machine gunned fleeing slumdwellers from the Nilkhet Rail-Gate. Many managed to escape from the slum and also took shelter with us.
I don’t have the words to express the bestiality and barbarity that was perpetrated on the Dhaka University area, especially Iqbal Hall, Jagannath Hall, and adjoining residential areas, for a period of 36 hours from the night of the 25th till the 26th night. What transpired around Iqbal Hall, I saw with my own eyes. Raging infernos everywhere; the slum was burning, the cars parked around the residences were burning. The heaped bodies of the dead from the slum were also set on fire near the Nilkhet rail gate petrol pump. The sound of shells bursting and guns firing, the smoke and fire, the smell of gun-powder and the stench of the burning corpses all transformed the area into a fiery hell. Every so often our building was being peppered with bullets. In the midst of this, we, our families, the students and bearers from the Halls, the slum-dwellers, had given up all hope for life, and were waiting for the hour of death. For most of March, student leaders Nur-e-Alam Ziku and Shahjahan Siraj used to spend the night with thus, but on that fateful might they weren’t with us. Had they been with us we would have been very apprehensive about their safety.
The incessant firings from cannons, mortars, tanks, machine-guns and automatics continue throughout the night. On the morning of the 26th the Pakistani killers began to go through the hall rooms and residential apartments and began their orgy of murder and looting. Huge gaping holes appeared on Iqbal Hall and the ad- joining residences of the bearers as a result of the shelling. Many bearers died as a result. Those unfortunate students and bearers of Iqbal Hall who had failed to flee were all killed by the Pakistanis. Some surviving students were taken to the Iqbal Hall kitchen where petrol was poured over them and then they were burnt alive. The university correspondent of the Daily Azad was shot near the auditorium. So was bearer Shamshu. The water pump workers of the Hall as well as the bearers were all brutally murdered by the Pakistani fiends.
Having finished their slaughter in Iqbal Hall, the Pakistani animals turned their attention to the residential buildings. The first began in flats of building 23. This here that they murdered Professor Fazlur Rahman of the Geology Department and two of his relatives. They also entered the flats of Professors Anwar Pasha and Rashidul Hassan. Everyone in those flats were hidden under the beds. After failing to see anyone in the torch light, the Pakistani soldiers were heard saying: “Bangali Kutta Bhag Gia – The Bengali dogs have flown.” Even though Professors Pasha and Hassan miraculously survived from the Pakistani barbarians, death still met them on the 14th of December, on the eve of Victory, when the killers from Jamat-e-Islam, Islami Chhatro Shango, and the Al-Badr Muslim Bangla, murdered many intellectuals near Mirpur. Another resident of the building, Dhaka University Assistant Librarian Mridha miraculously survived. But about 30 women, men and children from the slum who took refuge on the roof did not live to see another day. Each of them were brutally murdered by the barbaric Pakistanis, and for nigh over a month their corpses fed the vultures and crows. After several months their skeletons were brought down from the roof; the same day the skeletons of 50 Rokeya Hall staff and their families were removed.
The Pakistani hyenas also entered the building we were in, no 24. On the third flight two mothers from the slum had taken shelter. Their babies were with them. Both of them had been shot in the legs. On seeing the blood allover the entering Pakistani soldiers thought that some of their colleagues had already been through our buildings and so did not enter it. That is why we survived. We did our best to help those mothers and the day we left Nilkhet we had them admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
On that night the Pakistani beasts had also attacked Madhu’s Canteen and Rokeya Hall. Madhu Da, and his family, bearers and ayahs of Rokeya Hall and their families, were all brutally murdered that night.
Jagannath Hall too faced the fury of the Pakistani Army. Incessant shellings and blood-letting continued their throughout the night of the 25th and the day of the 26th. After the shelling, the soldiers went from room to room and brought out all the students and bearers to the field in front of the hall. There they were forced to dig their own graves. Subsequently they were all shot and buried in the graves they had dug themselves. Amongst all the residential halls of the University, Jagannath hall paid most dearly in terms of lives lost. In the teacher’s corner of Jagannath Hall’s Assembly House used to live Applied Physics’ professor Anuddoipayon Bhottacharjo. On that night the Pakistani animals entered his room and bayonetted him to death. His body was put out near the big tree close to the Hall auditorium for some time, and was then probably buried in the mass grave in the field. At the end of the night, the Pakistani beasts attacked the residence Dr. Gobindrochondro Deb opposite the hall. They first shot him in the head and then bayonetted him. They dragged his body outside, and in plain view drove a truck over him. His corpse was then taken to the Jagannath Hall field and was probably buried in a mass grave. Close to Dr. Deb’s house, near the Shaheed Minar, used to reside Professor Muniruzzaman and Dr. Jyotirmoy Guho Thakurta. Around 3 in the morning the Pakistani entered their residences and shot Professor Munirazzaman, his son Akram, and Dr. Thakurta. They died instantly. In the same building, professor Abdur Razzak and Dr. Anisur Rahman survived miraculously. On the same night, the Pakistani soldiers also attacked the Fuller Road faculty residences. Their first target was building 11. There they entered the residence of University Laboratory School teacher Mohammed Sadek. The animals first bayonetted him and then shot him in cold-blood. His dead body remained in that building till December 27. On the 27th he was buried behind the flat. They barbarians had also attacked building 12. They had dragged out Professor Syed Ali Naki of the Social Sciences Department, and a gentlemen by the name of Syed Syedul Islam. For some inexplicable reason they were not killed, but Professor Abdul Mutkadir of the Geology Department. from the same building, was brutally murdered. They dragged his body somewhere; it was eventually found on the 27th inside Iqbal Hall. The Pakistani animals had also attacked Salimullah Hall and Dhaka Hall. They beat up Salimullah Hall house tutor Professor Munim, and murdered Professor A. R. Khadem at Dhaka Hall.
This is how we spent those 36 hours. When on the morning of the 27th, the so called curfew was lifted, we all left the area for wherever we could. During those 2 days I had thought that everything was over, and we were all condemned to perpetual slavery; but, the firm and strong voice from Chittagong’s Shadheen Bangla Betar Kendra told us that we had not died yet, and I lived again. That is why I still live today.
Bangladesh History Overview
The area which is now Bangladesh has a rich historical and cultural past, the product of the repeated influx of varied peoples, bringing with them the Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, Mongol-Mughul, Arab, Persian, Turkic, and European cultures. About 1200 A.D., Muslim invaders under Sufi influence, supplanted Hindu and Buddhist dynasties, and converted most of the population of the eastern areas of Bengal to Islam. Since then, Islam has played a crucial role in the region’s history and politics. In the 16th century, Bengal was absorbed into the Mughul Empire.
Portuguese traders and missionaries reached Bengal in the latter part of the 15th century. They were followed by representatives of the Dutch, the French, and the British East India Companies. During the 18th and 19th centuries, especially after the defeat of the French in 1757, the British gradually extended their commercial contacts and administrative control beyond Calcutta into the remainder of Bengal and northwesterly up the Ganges River valley. In 1859, the British Crown replaced the East India Company, extending British dominion from Bengal in the east to the Indus River in the west.
19th Century
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Muslim and Hindu leaders began to press for a greater degree of independence. At the movement’s forefront was the largely Hindu Indian National Congress. Growing concern about Hindu domination of the movement led Muslim leaders to form the All-India Muslim League in 1906. In 1913, the League formally adopted the same goal as the Indian National Congress: self-government for India within the British Empire. The Congress and the League were unable, however, to agree on a formula to ensure the protection of Muslim religious, economic, and political rights. Over the next 2 decades, mounting tension between Hindus and Muslims led to a series of bitter intercommunal conflicts.
20th Century
The idea of a separate Muslim state emerged in the 1930s. It gained popularity among Indian Muslims after 1936, when the Muslim League suffered a decisive electoral defeat in the first elections under the 1935 constitution. On March 23, 1940, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League, publicly endorsed the “Pakistan Resolution” that called for the creation of an independent state in regions where Muslims were a majority.
At the end of World War II, the United Kingdom, under considerable international pressure to reduce the size of its overseas empire, moved with increasing urgency to grant India independence. The Congress Party and the Muslim League could not, however, agree on the terms for drafting a constitution or establishing an interim government. In June 1947, the UK declared it would grant full dominion status to two successor states–India and Pakistan. Pakistan would consist of the contiguous Muslim-majority districts of western British India, plus parts of Bengal. The various princely states could freely join either India or Pakistan. These arrangements resulted in a bifurcated Muslim nation separated by more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 mi.) of Indian territory. West Pakistan comprised four provinces and the capital, Lahore. East Pakistan was formed of a single province. Each province had a legislature. The capital of federal Pakistan was at Islamabad.
Pakistan’s history for the next 26 years was marked by political instability and economic difficulties. Dominion status was rejected in 1956 in favor of an “Islamic Republic within the Commonwealth.” Attempts at civilian political rule failed, and the government imposed martial law between 1958 and 1962 and 1969 and 1972. The government was dominated by Military and Oligarchies all rooted in the West. Significant amount of national revenues went towards developing the West at the expense of the East. The people of the Eastern wing began to feel increasingly dominated and exploited by the West. Frictions between West and East Pakistan culminated in a 1971 army crackdown against the East Pakistan dissident movement led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whose Awami League (AL) Party had won 167 seats out of 313 National Assembly seats on a platform of greater autonomy for the eastern province.
Mujibur Rahman was arrested and his party banned. Many of his aides and more than 10 million Bengali refugees fled to India, where they established a provisional government. India and Pakistan went to war in late November 1971. The combined Indian-Bengali forces soon overwhelmed Pakistan’s army contingent in the East. By the time Pakistan’s forces surrendered on December 16, 1971, India had taken numerous prisoners and gained control of a large area of East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh.
Post Independence Era
Mujibur Rahman came to office with immense personal popularity but had difficulty quickly transforming this support into political legitimacy. The 1972 constitution created a strong prime ministership, an independent judiciary, and a unicameral legislature on a modified British model. More importantly, it enunciated as state policy the Awami League’s four basic principles–nationalism, secularism, socialism, and democracy.
The Awami League won a massive majority in the first parliamentary elections in March 1973. It continued as a mass movement, espousing the cause that brought Bangladesh into being and representing disparate and often incoherent elements under the banner of Bangla nationalism. No other political party in Bangladesh’s early years was able to duplicate or challenge its broad-based appeal, membership, or organizational strength.
The new government focused on relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of the country’s war-ravaged economy and society. Economic conditions remained tenuous, however, and food and health difficulties continued to be endemic. In 1974, Mujib proclaimed a state of emergency and amended the constitution to limit the powers of the legislative and judicial branches, establish an executive presidency, and institute a one-party system. Calling these changes the “Second Revolution,” Mujib assumed the presidency. All political parties were dissolved except for a single new party, the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL), which all members of parliament were obliged to join.
Implementation of promised political reforms was slow, and Mujib increasingly was criticized. In August 1975, he was assassinated by mid-level army officers, and a new government, headed by a former associate, Khandakar Moshtaque, was formed. Successive military coups occurred on November 3 and 7, resulting in the emergence of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ziaur Rahman (Zia), as strongman. He pledged the army’s support to the civilian government headed by the president, Chief Justice Sayem. Acting at Zia’s behest, Sayem then promulgated martial law, naming himself Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA).
Ziaur Rahman was elected for a 5-year term as president in 1978. His government removed the remaining restrictions on political parties and encouraged opposition parties to participate in the pending parliamentary elections. More than 30 parties vied in the parliamentary elections of February 1979, but Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won 207 of the 300 elected seats.
In 1981, Zia was assassinated by dissident elements of the military. Vice President Justice Abdus Sattar was constitutionally sworn in as acting president. He declared a new national emergency and called for elections within 6 months. Sattar was elected president and won. Sattar was ineffective, however, and Army Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. H.M. Ershad assumed power in a bloodless coup in March 1982.
Like his predecessors, Ershad dissolved parliament, declared martial law, assumed the position of CMLA, suspended the constitution, and banned political activity. Ershad reaffirmed Bangladesh’s moderate, non-aligned foreign policy.
In December 1983, he assumed the presidency. Over the ensuing months, Ershad sought a formula for elections while dealing with potential threats to public order.
In January 1, 1986, full political rights, including the right to hold large public rallies, were restored. At the same time, the Jatiyo (People’s) Party (JP), designed as Ershad’s political vehicle for the transition from martial law, was established. Ershad resigned as chief of army staff, retired from military service, and was elected president in October 1986. (Both the BNP and the AL refused to put up an opposing candidate.)
In July 1987, the opposition parties united for the first time in opposition to government policies. Ershad declared a state of emergency in November, dissolved parliament in December, and scheduled new parliamentary elections for March 1988.
All major opposition parties refused to participate. Ershad’s party won 251 of the 300 seats; three other political parties which did participate, as well as a number of independent candidates, shared the remaining seats. This parliament passed a large number of legislative bills, including a controversial amendment making Islam the state religion.
By mid-1990, opposition to Ershad’s rule had escalated. November and December 1990 were marked by general strikes, increased campus protests, public rallies, and a general disintegration of law and order. Ershad resigned in December 1990.
On February 27, 1991, an interim government oversaw what may be one of the most free and fair elections in the nation’s history. The center-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party won a plurality of seats and formed a coalition government with the Islamic fundamentalist party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).
The new Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, was the widow of the assassinated former president Ziaur Rahman. Before the death of her husband in 1981, her participation in politics was minimal. She joined the BNP in 1982 and became chairman of the party in 1984.
In September 1991, the electorate approved changes to the constitution, formally creating a parliamentary system and returning governing power to the office of the prime minister, as in Bangladesh’s original constitution. In October 1991, members of parliament elected a new head of state, President Abdur Rahman Biswas.
Opposition legislators resigned en masse in December 1994, trying to force Khaleda to step down and allow early elections under a neutral caretaker administration. She refused and the opposition staged a series of strikes and shutdowns which economists say have slowed reforms and the pace of economic recovery. President Abdur Rahman Biswas dissolved parliament in November 1995 and called new elections for February 1996. He asked Khaleda Zia to stay in office until a successor was chosen. The opposition parties vowed to not to take part in the elections while Khaleda remained in office and boycotted the elections They said the elections had been rigged to ensure the BNP a landslide victory. They staged a series of crippling strikes and transport blockades, trying to force Khaleda to annul the election and transfer power to a neutral caretaker government. The new parliament bowed to opposition demands and passed a law March 26 allowing the president to form a caretaker government, Former chief justice Habibur Rahman was asked to head a caretaker government and parliament was dissolved.
Elections were completed June 23, 1996 with the Awami League garnering the highest number of seats. The leader of the Awami League, Sheikh Hasina Wazed, was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed was elected unopposed to replace Biswas as the next president of Bangladesh.
The latter part of Awami League’s tenure was marked by opposition boycott of the parliament and increasingly violent attempts at forcing early elections. However, Awami League completed its five year tenure and became the first govenment to complete its tenure in Bangladesh. New elections were held on October 1, 2001 under the aegis of a caretaker government as enshrined in the constitution of Bangladesh. These elections were won by a coalition of the BNP and three other parties led by Khaleda Zia. Begum Zia was subsequently sworn in as the Prime Minister. Political stability still appears to be a remote dream, since the Awami League alleges widespread rigging and vote manipulation and stayed away from the parliament. Independent and international observers have however termed the 2001 elections as free and fair.
The end of BNP’s five year stint was also marked by a repeat (this time by the AL) of opposition boycott of the parliament and increasingly violent attempts at forcing early elections. There was severe lack of consensus between the government and the opposition regarding the head of the interim caretaker administration. Under Bangladesh’s unique system, when an administration comes to the end of its term it hands over to an unelected interim government which has 90 days to organise elections. Violent protests broke out after the opposition objected to the nomination of ex-Chief Justice KM Hasan to head the interim administration as per the constitution. As a member of the BNP in his early days, his nomination was not palatable to them. On Saturday Mr Hasan pulled out just before he was due to be sworn in.
The president urged parties to find a replacement by Sunday afternoon. Mr Iajuddin Ahmed then held separate talks with party leaders, but failed to reach agreement on a compromise candidate. Finally, President Iajuddin Ahmed has been sworn in as head of an interim government after the main political parties failed to agree on a candidate. His decision to take the job without opposition backing is the last constitutional option available.
After increasingly violent clashes between political parties, a new caretaker government was sworn in with the backing of the armed forces. Erstwhile Bangadesh Bank governor Dr. Fakruddin Ahmed was sworn in as the Chief Adviser. He is respected on both sides of the sharp political divide in Bangladesh and is credited with bringing an end to the anarchy that had threatened to sweep the troubled nation. He has also cracked down on rampant corruption by arresting (former) senior government officials including the two former prime ministaers Khaleda Zia and SHeikh Hasina. An emergency has been promulgated and elections put off till 2008 while the caretaker government works towards ensuring a a corruption free governance.
An emerency was declared
Bangladesh Facts
Thumbnail Facts
Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India
Geographic coordinates: 24 00 N, 90 00 E
Area:
* Total: 144,000 sq km
* Land: 133,910 sq km
* Water: 10,090 sq km
Area – comparative: slightly smaller than Wisconsin
Land boundaries:
* Total: 4,246 km
* Border countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km
Coastline: 580 km
Maritime claims:
* Contiguous zone: 18 nm
* Continental shelf: up to the outer limits of the continental margin
* Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
* Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; cool, dry winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); cool, rainy monsoon (June to October)
Terrain: mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast
Elevation extremes:
* Lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
* Highest point: Keokradong 1,230 m
Natural resources: natural gas, arable land, timber
Land use:
* Arable land: 73%
* Permanent crops: 2%
* Permanent pastures: 5%
* Forests and woodland: 15%
* Other: 5%
Irrigated land: 31,000 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: droughts, cyclones; much of the country routinely flooded during the summer monsoon season
Bangladesh Natural Resources
The principal resources of Bangladesh are the fertile soils of the delta region, the long growing season, and the heavy rainfall suitably distributed over the year for growing rice and jute. The nation’s abundant water supplies are used to produce hydroelectric power and for irrigating farmlands during the dry season.
Although minerals have traditionally been economically unimportant, the country has large reserves of natural gas and some petroleum deposits. Natural gas is piped into Dhaka and CHITTAGONG for industrial use. There are also large deposits of low-grade coal, mined at Jamalpur.
