Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Mujib's presidency 's meeting in Dhaka for the 1970 Pakistani general election In the 1970 Pakistani general election, Sheikh Mujib's party, the Awami League (previously known as the Awami Muslim League), won the majority of the seats in the Pakistani National Assembly. They won 160 of the general 162 seats and all 7 women's seats in East Pakistan, which would later become Bangladesh after it seceded from West Pakistan. Despite Pakistan's military government delaying the handover of power, Mujib's residence had become the de facto head of government in East Pakistan by March. At the start of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, he was arrested at his home by Pakistani soldiers. On 10 April that year, the provisional government of the Bangladeshi rebellion, popularly known as the Mujibnagar Government, was established with Mujib as its head and as the leader of Bangladeshi armed forces. Following the defeat of Pakistani forces on 16 December 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was released from custody from Pakistan in London on 22 December 1971, from where he flew to India, and then to Bangladesh. Mujib led the government as Prime Minister of Bangladesh for three years after Bangladesh gained independence. Prime Minister Sheikh Mujib officially announced that the massacre had killed 3 million Bengalis and brutally raped 200,000 Bengali women by the then Pakistani army, calling it "the worst massacre in human history". The high hopes and aspirations of the people of newly independent Bangladesh were becoming increasingly difficult for the Mujib government to fulfill. Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini controversy and outrage in the army The Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini (JRB) was a controversial militia formed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and loyal to him personally. Although it was originally founded as a law enforcement agency to maintain internal security, it became a second national armed force and served as a political task force for the Awami League. As a result, it found little support among traditional military organisations such as the Mukti Bahini. Its 30,000 troops intimidated and tortured opponents of the Awami League in various ways. The military grew resentful of the level of funding the Rakkhi Bahini received from the Mujib government, with the former's own funding being reduced to 13% in the 1975–76 budget, a considerable decrease from the 50–60% it enjoyed during the Pakistan period. Salimullah Khan said in a symposium on 5 August 2025 that, in Mujib's 1972–1975 regime, around 10,000 JSD and other youths were killed by JRD peeling off their skins alive. Zia-Shafiullah conflict in the army After the war of independence, discord and disorder arose in the Bangladesh army for various reasons. The distance between the freedom fighters and the military officers who had returned to Pakistan continued to increase. Problems also arose over the appointment of the army chief. Despite being senior, Mujib appointed K. M. Shafiullah as the army chief instead of Zia. Shafiullah said in his court statement, This was a political decision, as a result of which Zia became personally angry with the Mujib government. As a result, the relationship between Ziaur Rahman and Shafiullah deteriorated. Colonel Shafaat Jamil said, Shafiullah also said, Colonel (Retd.) Shaukat Ali held Ziaur Rahman responsible for creating discord in the army, saying, According to Abu Sayyid, the author of the book Facts and Documents: Bangabandhu Khattakand and former State Minister for Information, there was always a propaganda in the army that Ziaur Rahman is the source of all virtues and merits. According to many, Ziaur Rahman was responsible for creating conflict between the returnees from Pakistan and the freedom fighters. In addition to all these issues, there were also differences among the freedom fighters. There was no harmony between the members of Ziaur Rahman's 'Z' Force and Khaled Mosharraf and Shafiullah's 'K' and 'S' forces. The conflict between Zia, Khaled and Shafiullah began during the Liberation War. However, due to the dominance of soldiers from the 'K' and 'S' Forces in the army, Khaled and Shafiullah did not have a good relationship with Zia. Near the end of 1973, Sheikh Kamal was involved in a shootout in which he suffered gunshot injuries. Multiple claims have been made as to how the shootout occurred. Many people claim that it was during an attempted robbery of a bank by Sheikh Kamal and his friends. However, a retired major general of the Bangladesh Army claimed that it was actually a case of friendly fire. Near the end of 1973, Bangladeshi security forces received intelligence that the left-wing revolutionary activist Siraj Sikder and his insurgents were going to launch coordinated attacks around Dhaka. Police and other security officers were on full alert and patrolling the streets of Dhaka in plainclothes. Sheikh Kamal and his friends were armed and also patrolling the city in a microbus looking for Siraj Sikder. When the microbus was in Dhanmondi, the police mistook Sheikh Kamal and his friends for insurgents and opened fire on them, thus injuring Sheikh Kamal. However, it is also claimed that Sheikh Kamal and his friends were in Dhanmondi to test drive a new car that his friend Iqbal Hassan Mahmood had bought recently. Since Dhaka was under heavy police patrolling, police special forces under the command of the then city SP Mahamuddin Bir Bikrom opened fire on the car thinking that the passengers were miscreants. A 1976 issue of the Asia Yearbook stated, "It was an open secret - that Mujib's brother, Sheikh Nazir, was alleged to have monopolised the smuggling in the southeast; that his wife took a cut in contracting World Bank projects; that his son, Sheikh Kamal, had been involved in thuggery; and that his nephew, Sheikh Moni, was fast accumulating power and wealth." Abdul Waheed Talukder, in his book "Gonotontrer Onneshay Bangladesh" (গণতন্ত্রের অন্বেষায় বাংলাদেশ, Bangladesh in Search of Democracy), said in the 1976 issue of the Asia Yearbook, Marcus F. Franda in his book "Bangladesh: The First Decade" says, S. R. Mirza says in his book Conversations after the War of Liberation, Left-wing insurgency A left-wing insurgency from 1972 to 1975 is widely held to be responsible for creating the conditions that led to the assassination. In 1972, a leftist group named the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) was founded from a split in the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the Bangladesh Awami League. The JSD, through its armed wing Gonobahini led by Colonel Abu Taher and politician Hasanul Haq Inu, began a political massacre of government supporters, Awami League members, and police. Their campaign contributed to a breakdown of law and order in the country Hasanul Huq Inu later held the office of the Minister of Information under Sheikh Hasina's Second and Third cabinets. Ramna massacre Immediately after the formation of the National Socialist Party, the JSD leaders and activists started a movement against Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's National Guard. At that time, members of the National Guard were accused of being involved in many illegal activities, including attacking the houses of opposition politicians, looting, torturing, killing, and abducting opposition ideologues. On 17 March 1974, the Guard attacked JSD supporters in Ramna, which the JSD called the Ramna Massacre. On that day, when JSD activists surrounded the residence of Home Minister Muhammad Mansur Ali located in Ramana area of Dhaka, members of the National Guard opened fire on them, resulting in heavy casualties. At least 50 people were killed in the massacre. Opposition to India India played an important role in the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971. According to Paresh Saha, Sheikh Mujib became a symbol of India-Bangladesh friendly relations at that time. After independence, Mujib's opponents repeatedly called Mujib an 'agent of India' and the Mujib government a puppet government of India. Pro-Chinese parties also called the Liberation War after the Indian participation a 'fight between two dogs'. They called the India-Bangladesh Pact concluded by Mujib-Indira Gandhi a 'slavery pact'. Secularism vs. Islam tensions and communal provocations The 1972 constitution drafted under Mujib's leadership adopted secularism as one of the fundamental principles of the state. According to this constitution, religion-based politics was banned in Bangladesh. Role of newspapers The number of newspapers in Bangladesh increased rapidly after independence. The number of newspapers increased from dozens to hundreds. Several newspapers played a role in spreading news and public opinion against Mujib and his government. According to M R Akhtar Mukul, some newspapers in Bangladesh played a role in the Mujib murder. He said, Daily Ittefaq founded by Tafazzal Hossain (Manik Mia) played an important role in the independence movement of Bangladesh. Manik Mia died in 1969 and after that his two sons Barristers Mainul Hossain and Anwar Hossain Manju took over the responsibility of Ittefaq. The Ittefaq office was burned at the beginning of the Bangladesh Liberation War. According to Paresh Saha, The newly published Ittefaq started publishing anti-liberation news as a supporter of Pakistan. Even though Mujib pardoned them after independence, Ittefaq continued to create anti-Mujib public opinion based on the grievances of the common people. According to Abdul Ghaffar Chowdhury, Ittefaq was able to distract the people through editorials - articles etc. It is worth noting that after the assassination of Mujib, Anwar Hossain Manju, in an editorial supporting the assassination, called it 'natural' and 'a historic beginning'. According to many analysts, many newspapers were banned not only for political reasons, but also for spreading baseless news, communal propaganda, and indecency in various contexts. Dalim-Mostafa conflict In 1974, Gazi Golam Mostafa kidnapped Major Shariful Haque Dalim and his wife from the Dhaka Ladies Club after an argument during Dalim's cousin's wedding reception. Dalim's only brother-in-law Bappi (his wife Nimmi's brother) was attending from Canada. Mostafa's son occupied the chair in the row behind Bappi and pulled Bappi's hair from the back. Bappi scolded the boy for his behavior and told him not to sit on the row behind him anymore. Mostafa's sons (who were close friends of Sheikh Kamal) and some associates forcefully abducted Dalim, Nimmi, the groom's mother, and two of Dalim's friends (both of whom were distinguished freedom fighters) in Microbuses owned by the Red Crescent. Mostafa was taking them to the Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini headquarters but later took them to the residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Mujib mediated a compromise between them and made Mostafa apologize to Nimmi. When news of the abduction spread, the 1st Bengal Lancers ransacked Mostafa's and took his whole family prisoner. They also set up check posts all over the city searching for Major Dalim and the abductees. Some officers lost their jobs as a result. The officers involved, including Shariful Haque Dalim, were later orchestrators of the coup on 15 August 1975 and the assassination of Sheikh Mujib. Rise and death of Siraj Sikder Siraj Sikder was contemporary leading Bangladeshi Maoist leader, in Mujib's regime. Born in 1944, he obtained an engineering degree from the East Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology (now BUET) in 1967. In April 1973, he formed Purba Banglar Jatiya Mukti Front (East Bengal National Liberation Front) and declared war on Bangladesh Government. In 1975, Sikder was arrested at Hali Shahar in Chittagong by the intelligence force of the government. He was killed in police custody on 3 January 1975 on his way from Dhaka Airport to the Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini Camp at Savar. Anthony Mascarenhas narrated in his book Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood that, Siraj's sister Shamim Sikder blamed Mujib for the killing of her brother. Famine of 1974 Ever since independence, the possibility of famine started appearing in Bangladesh. Corrupt administration, worsening flood situation, failure to deal with food crisis led to famine in North Bengal in 1974. The death toll from the famine is claimed to be between 27,000 and 15 lakh or approximately 300,000 to 4,500,000 (or 1 to 1.5 million). According to many analysts, the famine reduced the popularity of the Mujib government and contributed to the circumstances of his assassination. Mujib-Bhutto's Pakistan-Bangladesh tour In February 1974, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was invited to Lahore, Pakistan, to attend the World Islamic Conference organized by the Prime Minister of Pakistan and political rival during the Liberation War, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Some prominent leaders of the Awami League, especially Tajuddin Ahmed, objected to Sheikh Mujib's visit because Pakistan had not yet recognized Bangladesh, but on 22 February, when Pakistan recognized Bangladesh, Mujib went on the visit. And on his way back, he invited Bhutto to visit Dhaka in return. Bhutto accepted the invitation and arrived in Bangladesh in late June 1974, According to Paresh Saha, there were so many people at the airport to see Bhutto that the police and security forces had to use batons to control the crowd. During the visit, Bhutto formally apologized for Pakistan's "criminal" actions in Bangladesh in 1971 and proposed that the Biharis in Bangladesh be taken back to Pakistan. At the end of the visit, Bhutto told reporters that his visit was a success and Mujib's talks were a failure. According to Paresh Saha, Bhutto's covert claim of success in the visit was to secretly assist in the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. 2nd revolution and BAKSAL Sheikh Mujib later made himself President of Bangladesh and established a national unity government, the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL), on 7 June 1975 by banning all political parties and independent press. Mujib named the reform as Second Revolution. Although the BAKSAL was intended to bring stability to Bangladesh and uphold law and order, it engendered hostility among the bureaucracy, military, and civil society. Opposition groups, as well as some of Mujib's supporters, challenged Mujib's authoritarian, one-party state. The period of the BAKSAL's one-party rule was marked by widespread censorship and abuse of the judiciary, as well as opposition from the general populace, intellectuals, and all other political groups. a contemporary Awami League youth leader from Tongi and the chairman of Tongi Awami League, seized a car of a newlywed housewife, killed her driver and husband, abducted her and gang-raped her and three days later, her dead body was found in the road near a bridge of Tongi. Mozammel was arrested by a leader of a squadron of the Bengal Lancer named Major Nasser and handed over to the police, but the police released him immediately. He was released from the punishment of that crime with the intervention of Sheikh Mujib. This incident increased the dissatisfaction against Sheikh Mujib in the army, specially in Major Faruque and acted as one of the prominently last-minute influences behind his assassination. ==Conspiracy==

Conspirators Major Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman; Khandaker Abdur Rashid; Shariful Haque Dalim; Mohiuddin Ahmed; and Rashed Chowdhury, along with A. K. M. Mohiuddin Ahmed, Mohammad Bazlul Huda, and S. H. M. B. Noor Chowdhury (three majors in the Bangladesh Army), planned to topple the government and establish a military government of their own. They were previously part of the opposition to BAKSAL and viewed the government as too subservient to India and as a threat to Bangladesh's military. However, the killer Lt. Col. Khandaker Abdur Rashid's wife and accused Jobaida Rashid said in his deposition, "Criticism was happened among Army officers for providing more facilities by forming Rakkhi Bahini besides the army. I hear these things from Farooq. Major Farooq has been in touch with General Zia since childhood. He was Zia's former acquaintance. Farooq used to roam alone around Sheikh Mujib's house in Dhanmondi area in the mid night wearing a khaki shirt and lungi and hatching the plan to assassinate Sheikh Mujib by observing everything. One night Major Farooq returned from Zia's house and told my husband that Zia wanted to be president if the government changed. Zia said, "It is a success to come to me. If it is a failure then do not involve me. It is not possible to change the government by keeping Sheikh Mujib alive". Major General (retd) M Khalilur Rahman (then director of BDR) testified, "Some army officers became divided as General Safiullah was not made the army chief despite being a senior on the basis of General Zia's number. I have heard that General Zia will retire from the army and be sent abroad as an ambassador." At one point after the swearing in of the cabinet, Major Rashid introduced me to his wife. I thought Major Rashid was a little proud and said, "She is my wife. My wife is the mastermind behind what we have done." Major Faruque told Anthony Mascarenhas that he carried out the assassination following the direction of Andha Hafiz, a blind saint from Chittagong who was known having supernatural powers and his wife Farida helped him communicate with the saint. The saint entitled as a pir told him to carry out the killing in the interest of Islam, advised him to abandon personal interests and carry out the killing at the right time. However, Andha Hafiz later denied the claim in an interview with the weekly Bichinta. International connections Journalist Lawrence Lifschultz paints an alternate picture of the conspiracy, however, that implicates Mostaq and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He claimed that the "CIA station chief in Dhaka, Philip Cherry, was actively involved in the killing of the "Father of the Nation"—Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman." His claims largely relied on the testimony of a single anonymous businessman, however. Lifschultz characterized this incident as an outcome of the Cold War between the United States-influenced Pakistan and the Soviet Union-influenced India. According to US documents, in 1972, Colonel Farooq secretly made an offer to purchase arms at the US embassy. ==Warnings by the intelligence==

Mujib was warned by many including the Indian and as well as American intelligence about the possible coup. Indian intelligence In 1975, Rameshwar Nath Kao was in charge of the Research and Analysis Wing (R) of the Indian Intelligence Service. In 1989, in the April 23–29 article of the English weekly Sunday of the ABP Group of India, while responding to an allegation he referred, In March 1975, RN Kao again sent a senior officer of the 'RAW' to Bangabandhu. Kao wrote, "He met Sheikh Mujib. He was informed that the infantry and cavalry units of the Bangladesh Army were plotting to assassinate him. But unfortunately Sheikh Mujib ignored all warnings." ==Assassination attempt on 21 May 1975==

An unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Mujib occurred on 21May 1975 during the evening hours. The attempt was made when Mujib was returning to his residence at Dhanmondi after visiting a new TV station in the outskirts of Dhaka in Rampura. According to journalists and police accounts, grenades were used. Although Mujib was unharmed, two unidentified persons were injured in the attack. The Deputy Superintendent of Police assigned to the security of President Mujib confirmed this to the Political Associate working at the US Embassy in Dhaka. Some journalists also reported this to the embassy's information officer. However, the state decided to not publicise the incident. The Information Directorate sent strict instructions to the newspapers not to publish the news. Prior to this, on March 16, the day before Mujib's birthday, there were bomb attacks in three places in Dhaka. One person was killed and four others injured in an attack at the bar of Hotel Intercontinental. Three people were injured in the attack in Dhaka Newmarket. A total of 12 people were injured in the three incidents. All were discharged from the hospital after initial treatment. Although the attacks were isolated, the US Embassy in Dhaka considered them to be a rehearsal for the attack on Mujib. ==15 August 1975==

On 15 August 1975, President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was scheduled to attend the convocation ceremony of Dhaka University in the morning. The army chief K. M. Shafiullah was caught unaware and failed to stop the coup. K.M. Shafiullah told the court about his last telephone conversation with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Account of Abdur Rahman Sheikh Roma Abdur Rahman Sheikh Roma joined as Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's domestic worker in 1969. On 15 August 1975 he was present at the house of Sheikh Mujib. He testified in court in Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's assassination case. According to his statement, Meanwhile, Mujib was asked to surrender. He telephoned Colonel Jamil Uddin Ahmad, the new Chief of Military Intelligence. When Jamil arrived and ordered the troops back to the barracks, he was gunned down at the gate of the residence. Mujib was shot and killed, after he refused to surrender. According to some accounts, Although S. H. M. B. Noor Chowdhury was marked to be the person who fired the fatal shots, Noor Chowdhury denied the accusation in an interview given to the CPB Radio. Other people killed in the attack were Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, wife of Mujib, who was killed upstairs; Sheikh Nasser, younger brother of Mujib, who was killed in a lavatory; several servants of Mujib, who were also killed in lavatories; Sheikh Jamal, the second son of Mujib and an army officer; ten-year-old Sheikh Russel, the youngest son of Mujib; and two daughters-in-law of Mujib. Moni and Serniabat family In Dhanmondi, two other groups of soldiers killed Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani, Mujib's nephew and a leader of the Awami League, along with his pregnant wife, Arzu Moni. Mujib's brother-in-law, Abdur Rab Serniabat was killed with thirteen of his family members on Mintu Road. He was a minister of the government. Mohammadpur At Dhanmondi, an artillery group under Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed took up a position with a M101 howitzer on the lake shore south of Mujib's residence. The mortar shells fired from there towards the residence, missed its target and hit Mohammadpur (to the north of Dhanmondi). At this, house number 8 and 9 of Shershah Suri Road and house number 196 and 197 of Shahjahan Road (tinshed slum) caught fire instantly killing 14 and leaving 40 people injured. Savar The fourth and most powerful group was sent towards Savar to repel the expected counter-attack by the security forces stationed there. After a brief fight and the loss of eleven men, the security forces surrendered. == Casualties ==

The total number of casualties in the coup is still unknown. However, most of the identities have been reported. Deaths • Shot dead in Sheikh Mujib's house: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Abu Naser, Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, Sheikh Kamal, Sultana Kamal Khuki, Sheikh Jamal, Parveen Jamal Rosy, Sheikh Russel • Others: Siddiqur Rahman (police officer), Mahbubul Haque (police officer), Col. Jamil Uddin Ahmed (newly appointed D.G.F.I. chief) • Sheikh Moni's house (severely injured in firing and declared dead in hospital): Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni, Begum Arju Moni (Begum Samsunnesa) • House of Serniabat (shot dead): Abdur Rab Serniabat, Arif Serniabat, Baby Serniabat, Shaheed Serniabat, Sukanto Abdullah Babu, Naeem Khan Rintu, Potka (domestic worker), Lakshmi's mother (domestic worker) • House No. 8 and 9 of Sher Shah Suri Road and House No. 196 and 197 of Shahjahan Road in Mohammadpur (died by fire caused by the misfired mortar shells): Rezia Begum, Nasima, Habibur Rahman, Anwara Begum, Anwara Begum (2), Moyful Bibi, Sabera Begum, Abdullah, Rafiqul, Safia Khatun, Shahabuddin, Kasheda, Aminuddin, Hanufa Bibi • Savar security force station: 11 people Injuries • Sheikh Mujib's house (injured in firing): AFM Mohitul Islam (P.A./receptionist), Nurul Islam (D.S.P), Md. Salim (domestic worker) • House of Serniabat (injured in firing): Sheikh Amena Begum, Sahan Ara Abdullah, Beauty Serniabat, Abul Khair Abdullah, Hena Serniabat • Sher Shah Suri Road and Shahjahan Road in Mohammadpur (injured by fire caused by the misfired mortar shells): 40 people == Reactions ==

Mushtaq Ahmed's reaction After Sheikh Mujib was killed, Khandaker Mushtaq Ahmed declared himself President, a position he held for only 83 days. In his address to the nation shortly after assuming power, he called Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's killers the sun-born children of the nation. After assuming office as president, he passed the Indemnity Bill. On 25 August of that year, he appointed Ziaur Rahman as Chief of Army Staff. Mushtaq Ahmed was removed from power by a mutiny on 5 November 1975. Ziaur Rahman's reaction On the morning of the assassination, the then Lieutenant Colonel Amin Ahmed Chowdhury entered General Ziaur Rahman's house and learned through the radio that President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had been assassinated. He described the incident, "General Zia was shaving on one side and not shaving on the other. He came running in a sleeping suit. He asked Shafayat Jamil, 'Shafayat what happened?' Shafayat said, 'Apparently two battalions staged a cue. (Most likely two army groups have staged a coup.) We still don't know what happened outside. I am hearing the announcement on the radio that the President is dead.' Then General Zia said, So what? Let the Vice President take over. We have nothing to do with politics. Get your troops ready. Uphold the Constitution. (So what? Let the Vice President take over. We have nothing to do with politics. Get your troops ready. Uphold the Constitution.)" Major Rafiqul Islam, Professor Abu Sayyid and an eyewitness military officer claim that Ziaur Rahman, jubilant after Mujib's assassination, told Major Dalim, Ziaur Rahman, after assuming the office of President, appointed many military officers who had murdered Mujib to the rank of Secretary in foreign embassies. He incorporated it into the Constitution through the 5th Amendment, which was declared illegal. In February 2010, the Bangladesh High Court declared the 5th Amendment to the Constitution illegal. Khaled Musharraf's response Against the government formed by the coup of Major Farooq, Major Rashid and Khandaker Mushtaq Ahmed, another counter-coup was led by General Khaled Musharraf, with the support of the Dhaka 46 Infantry Brigade led by Colonel Shafayat Jamil, who directed this coup out of his strong affection for Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. This coup led to the overthrow of the Mushtaq government on 3 November 1975. But before that, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's assassins, upon receiving news of the coup, decided to kill four Awami League leaders (Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Abul Hasnat Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, Muhammad Mansur Ali) who were previously imprisoned in Dhaka Central Jail, because at that time there was a possibility of the Awami League regaining power through the coup through the four leaders, and therefore on the morning of November 3, these four Awami League leaders were killed before the coup. Immediately after this, on the same day, i.e. on November 3, Khaled Musharraf's coup took place, as a result of which Khandaker Mushtaq Ahmed was forced to resign on November 6 and Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem became the new President of Bangladesh. After this, Ziaur Rahman was forced to resign from the post of Chief-of-Army Staff. In the coup of 3 November, Khaled Musharraf wanted to carry out a bloodless coup. Therefore, he kept Ziaur Rahman under house arrest in his own residence, which caused adverse reactions due to his popularity among the army. Colonel (retd) Abu Taher was stationed in Chittagong at that time. Colonel Taher was a special well-wisher of Ziaur Rahman and he believed in socialism, he did not like the discrimination between soldiers and officers. Because of this policy, Taher was very popular among the ordinary soldiers of the army and he believed that Zia was also a man of his ideals. After the coup of 3 November, Taher learned that Ziaur Rahman had been captured. He immediately left Chittagong for Dhaka, ordering the mutiny of the sepoys of his loyal East Bengal Regiment. At that time, several hundred JSD workers were with him. Colonel Taher's counter-coup was successful on 7 November, according to Sukhranjan Dasgupta, Ataul Ghani Osmani also assisted in the coup. He freed Ziaur Rahman from Dhaka Cantonment and brought him to the headquarters of the 2nd Field Artillery. In this counter-coup, General Khaled Musharraf was killed by disgruntled soldiers at the headquarters of the 10th East Bengal Regiment he had established. However, when Ziaur Rahman broke his promise, the sepoys continued the rebellion. In the end, Ziaur Rahman suppressed the rebellion. Later, Taher was charged with taking a pro-Russian Marxist–Leninist socialist stance against Zia's pro-American capitalist democratic stance, and was sentenced to death by a military court. He was hanged on 21 July 1976. ==Aftermath==

Curfew was imposed after Mujib's death was announced on Bangladesh Radio nationwide. A 24-hour curfew was imposed on the day of the assassination. However, for Friday prayers at 12:30 p.m. an adjournment was given till 2 o'clock. The next day there was a break in the 24-hour curfew from 9:30 to 12:00. On 17 August there was an adjourned from 6 am to evening. A break was given on 18 August from morning to 10 in the night. Schools, colleges, offices, courts and factories were fully opened from that day. On the morning of the assassination, the then Lieutenant Colonel Amin Ahmed Chowdhury entered the house of General Ziaur Rahman and found out on the radio that President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had been assassinated. He described the incident: "General Zia is shaving on one side but not on the other. Came running in the sleeping suit, he asked Shafaat Jamil, "What happened, Shafaat?" Shafaat replied, "Apparently two battalions staged a coup. We don't know yet what happened outside. We hear the announcement on the radio that the president is dead." Then General Zia said, "So what? Let vice-president take over. We have nothing to do with politics. Get your troops ready. Uphold the constitution." Major Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman, Rashid, and the other army officers were promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Nevertheless, they were exiled to Libya, China, Rhodesia, Canada, and other countries, although they were given several diplomatic posts in Bangladeshi missions abroad. Lieutenant Colonel (Rtd.) Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman later returned and founded the Bangladesh Freedom Party in 1985 and took part in the presidential election in 1987 against the military ruler Lieutenant General Hussain Mohammad Ershad but lost that election in a landslide. Mujib's two daughters, Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, were in West Germany at the time of his assassination. After the coup, they were barred from returning to Bangladesh and were granted asylum by India. Sheikh Hasina lived in New Delhi in exile before returning to Bangladesh on 17 May 1981. == Protests, revolt and counter coup ==

Students and public protests The assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, culminated in protests that took place beginning in Barguna. Freedom fighter Motaleb Mridha Barguna SDO Siraj Uddin Ahmed led BLA president Jahangir Kabir Nanak with 10-15 BLA workers in a procession. Later, leaders and workers of the Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League of Barguna joined in the protest. On the morning of 15 August, protests were held in several places including Kishoreganj, Bhairab, Khulna, Jessore, Faridganj in Chandpur, Mohanganj in Netrakona, and Gafargaon in Mymensingh. The military patrol was strengthened when the students tried to held a protest rally in the Dhaka University area. Meanwhile, news of arrests began to arrive from different parts of the country. Poet Nirmalendu Goon was arrested and imprisoned for writing a poem. The military administration also placed around 50 Awami League activists, including the four national leaders, in Dhaka Central Jail. On the day of the assassination, Mufti Nurullah protested it in the Friday prayer sermon at Brahmanbaria Jameh Mosque. In August, Chittagong City College students held a protest march, which was dispersed by the police. Freedom fighter commander Maulvi Syed, student leader ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury and later Awami League leader S.M. Yusuf began to resist. A case was filled by the military junta against the protestors and resisters termed 'Chittagong Conspiracy'. Maulvi Syed was arrested and later died while imprisoned. It is claimed that he died due to torture by the army. On 16 October, a meeting called by Khandaker Mushtaq was boycotted by 10 ministers. When some of the convicts attended the meeting held at the Tejgaon MP Hostel, they were forced to leave the meeting in the face of protests from some of the present ministers. On November Dhaka University students led a protest march from the historic Battala, ignoring the obstacles of the armed forces, to the residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at 32, Dhanmondi, where the student-public held a protest meeting and a special prayer. On 15 January 1976, Dhaka University and various educational institutions in the vicinity were surrounded, hundreds of students were arrested and left hungry in the open field of Suhrawardy Udyan for the whole day. 22 people were arrested in Kishoreganj for defying the restrictions. They were released in stages over a period of 1 year. Kamrul Alam Khan Khasru, film actor and the guerrilla commander of Dhaka region during the Bangladesh Liberation War, was shot and hospitalized while protesting the assassination. After being recovered, he left the country and later returned. On 18 August 1976, 5 freedom fighters Javed Ali, Nikhil Dutt, Subodh Dhar, Dipal Das, Mofiz Uddin were killed in an army operation for protesting. The surviving youth fighter, Biswajit Nandi, was arrested and sentenced to be executed by hanging after being found guilty by a military court on 18 May 1977. Influenced by influential world leaders including Indira Gandhi, Biswajit received a commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment. He was released in 1989. On 3 November 1975, Brigadier General Khaled Mosharraf launched a successful coup with the support of Colonel Shafayat Jamil to remove the assassins from power and Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad from the Presidency. Mushtaq Ahmad was ousted from power and jailed on 6 November following the coup led by Brigadier Khaled Mosharraf and Colonel Shafat Jamil among others. However, prior to this, on 4 November the junior officers involved in the assassination were provided safe passage to Bangkok, after they killed the imprisoned 4 national leaders also at Dhaka Central Jail on 3 November. Remarking the assassination on 15 August, KM Safiullah said, ==Trial and judgments==

The military decided not to court-martial the military officers who masterminded and participated in the coup. AFM Mohitul Islam, personal assistant to Sheikh Mujib and a survivor of the attack on his house, attempted to file a case against the military officers, but the police slapped him in the face and refused to file the report. On 18 September 1980, a commission of inquiry was formed by four British jurists in the United Kingdom on the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his family and four national leaders. It was led by Sir Thomas Williams titled "Sheikh Mujib Murder Inquiry". However, they were not allowed to investigate in Bangladesh by the then Bangladesh government. The assassination conspirators could not be tried in a court of law because of the Indemnity Act passed by the government under President Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad. When the Awami League, led by Mujib's daughter, Sheikh Hasina, won elections in 1996, the act was repealed. The Bangabandhu murder trial began with the case filing by Mohitul Islam. Investigation and arrests Colonel (Rtd.) Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman was arrested from his Dhaka home, and Colonel (Rtd.) Mohammad Bazlul Huda was brought back from Bangkok, where he was serving a prison sentence for shoplifting as part of a criminal exchange program between Thailand and Bangladesh. Lieutenant Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed was in active military service when he was arrested. Colonel (Rtd.) Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan had been appointed to active diplomatic service by previous Prime Minister of Bangladesh Begum Khaleda Zia, but he returned to Bangladesh and was arrested when he was recalled by the foreign ministry. Colonel (Rtd.) Abdur Rashid and other accused individuals had already left Bangladesh, however. They believed that the upcoming 1996 general election would be an Awami League victory, which would result in the repealing of the Indemnity Act and their subsequent arrest. Colonel (Rtd.) Rashid now reportedly shuttles between Pakistan and Libya. All these men were also involved in Jail Killing on 3 November 1975, when four Awami League officials were assassinated. Trial and sentencing: lower court The first trial ended on 8 November 1998. The District and Session Judge of Dhaka, Mohammad Golam Rasul, ordered the death sentence by firing squad to fifteen out of the twenty accused of conspiring in the assassination. The sentences were not carried out immediately, because five of the convicts sought to file appeals in the high court division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. The Supreme Court, consisting of Justice Mohammad Ruhul Amin and Justice A. B. M. Khairul Haque, who was the former Chief Justice of Bangladesh, gave a divisive verdict. Senior Justice Amin acquitted five out of the original fifteen accused, whereas Junior Justice Haque upheld the lower court's verdict. A verdict from a third judge became necessary. Later, Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim condemned twelve out of original fifteen, including two acquitted in Justice Amin's verdict. One of the convicts, Major (Rtd.) Aziz Pasha died in Zimbabwe on 2 June 2001. Appeal: high court , Dhaka The five accused appealed to the appellate division of the Supreme Court, their decision remained pending from August 2001. Several judges refused to hear the case, which meant the government lacked the three judges required to hold a hearing session. On 18 June 2007, one of the conspirators who had been sentenced to death, Major (Rtd.) A. K. M. Mohiuddin Ahmed was extradited to Bangladesh from the United States following a series of failed attempts to gain asylum or permanent residency in the United States. On 7 August 2007, the murder case hearings resumed after a six-year delay. The appellate division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh gave its verdict on 19 November 2009, after a five-member special bench, headed by Justice Mahammad Tafazzal Islam, spent 29 days hearing the petition filed by the convicted. The appeal of the convicts was rejected, and the death sentence was upheld. Before the verdict, approximately 12,000 extra policemen were deployed to guard strategic buildings, including the Supreme Court building, to prevent disruption of the proceedings by the convicted men's supporters. Nevertheless, they were blamed by the government for a grenade attack on one of the prosecution lawyers in October 2009, although no one has been charged yet. Taheruddin Thakur, former Information Minister and one of the suspects, was cleared during the Hasina Government, acquitted in trial, and released. He died of natural causes in 2009. On 7 April 2020, Captain Abdul Majed who was hiding in Kolkata, was arrested at Mirpur by the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police. He was sent to Dhaka Central Jail, Keraniganj, and was executed by hanging a few days later on the 12 April 2020. Fugitives Six individuals: S. H. M. B. Noor Chowdhury, Rashed Chowdhury, Abdul Aziz Pasha, Khandaker Abdur Rashid, Shariful Haque Dalim, and Moslemuddin, were tried in absentia for the assassination, and currently remain fugitives in Bangladesh, despite extensive efforts to have them extradited. Abdul Aziz Pasha died in Harare, Zimbabwe, on 2 June 2001. Khandaker Abdur Rashid and Rashed Chowdhury currently live in the United States, after applying for asylum. S. H. M. B. Noor Chowdhury, applied for asylum in Canada, and currently lives in the Etobicoke neighborhood of Toronto. He was the subject on the CBC television series The Fifth Estate, on an episode titled "The Assassin Next Door", detailing his role as the assassin, and his life in Toronto. The whereabouts of Shariful Haque Dalim and Moslemuddin are unknown. It is claimed that Dalim has a Kenyan passport, and currently lives in Pakistan. ==Tributes==

The assassination changed the course of politics in Bangladesh, and the ramifications of which are still being felt across South Asia. Many world leaders, eminent personalities, at that time, expressed their shock and condemned the heinous act of killing. Fidel Castro, leader and the prime minister of Cuba, said, Henry Kissinger, American diplomat and politician, said, Willy Brandt, politician and chancellor of Germany, said, Yasser Arafat, the president of Palestine, said Indira Gandhi, the prime minister of India, said, Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq, said, Mark Tully, the bureau chief of BBC, said, Fenner Brockway, member of the UK House of Lords, said, Kenneth Kaunda, the president of Zambia, said, British Minister James Lamond said, According to the Financial Times, In one of the articles on 5 April 1982, the Time magazine mentioned, Mujib was buried next to his parents in his birthplace Tungipara after his funeral there. Others were buried in the Banani graveyard of Dhaka. Special services and prayers were held in several cities including Dhaka and Jessore. == Previous attempts (1969–1972) ==

Since the post-Six Point Movement period in 1966, several assassination plots were devised against Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman reportedly by the Pakistani government and vested interest groups. Detailed accounts of these conspiracies are reported in declassified secret documents of the United States and various historical records. 1969 Assassination Plot According to declassified documents from the U.S. Consulate, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman first learned on 20 December 1969 that two assassins had been sent to Dhaka to assassinate him. This information was detailed in a special report dated 29 December 1969, sent from the then U.S. Consulate in Dhaka to the Secretary of State in Washington, D.C. According to the records, on 23 December 1969, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman disclosed this conspiracy during a meeting with Deputy Chief of Mission Sydney Sober and the Consul-in-charge. He mentioned that while he initially received the news on 20 December, he did not give it much importance at first. However, on 22 December, he obtained verified evidence regarding the plot and began taking it seriously. Following the exposure of the plan and after Bangabandhu informed the military authorities, the conspirators retreated. It is widely suspected that an influential faction within the Pakistani military or the ruling regime was involved in this plot. After a failed attempt on 18 August to assassinate him by poisoning his food, followers of then-President Yahya Khan planned to incite a riot within the prison to kill him under the guise of chaos. Bangabandhu later revealed that a sympathetic prison official had warned him of the danger. This official, who was aware of Yahya Khan's movements and inspection schedule, secretly escorted him out of the prison at 3:00 AM and hid him in his personal bungalow. He was kept there in total secrecy for four to six days without any military guards to ensure his safety. 1972 Attempt Following his release from Pakistan in 1972, during a stopover in London on his way back to Bangladesh, an individual named Dabir Siddiqui, reportedly backed by the Pakistani government, planned to assassinate Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Heathrow Airport. However, the attempt was foiled due to the stringent security measures imposed by the British authorities. Later, when Bangabandhu visited Kolkata, India, another attempt was made on his life. Indian intelligence agencies uncovered the plot and arrested Dabir Siddique there. At Bangabandhu's request, Siddique was subsequently handed over to the Bangladesh Police. However, following the political change in 1975 and during the subsequent military regime, he was released from custody. In later years, Dabir Siddique also served as the President of the Dhaka Club. == Literary interpretation of the assassination ==

The literary texts regarding the impact of the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman are categorized into three sections: (1) the literature which explains the background of the assassination; (2) the literature which describes the assassination incidences detailed or implied; and (3) the political polarization after the incidences. Literary background '' book cover. The literature ranges from the year of the incident to recent works explaining the causes behind the assassination. Some literature that highlights the causes of the military coup include the books: Empires at war: a short history of modern Asia since World War II, A Political and Economic Dictionary of South Asia, and Cascades of Violence: War, Crime and Peacebuilding Across South Asia. A sect of literature highlight the rise of paramilitary groups such as the Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini and the Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party. Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood is the book which knits the web of these factional elements and their operations in the decade of 70's. The economic meltdown, the flood in 1974 and the preceding famine are also discussed as factors in Democracy and Famine. Military resentment The 15 August 1975 Mujibur assassination marks the first direct military intervention in the then administration- centric Bangladesh politics. There are references on the condensation of the political misunderstanding among the "Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini" founded in 1972 by the patronization of Mujib, Mukti Bahini founded during the war time, and the military. It is reported that the military would receive 50-60% funding during the Pakistani period that the Muijb government reduced it to 13% that raised a tacit resentment among the military. Rise of factional groups The Liberation war ended. The occupied forces surrendered and left the country. Bangladesh then had to face a second-level of factionalism among the people in the country that literature portrays. The Good Muslim by Tahmima Anam presents the ravages of war, the confrontation with religious fundamentalism and the socio-political disharmony interplaying in the war torn country. The cover page of the book reads:Set in Bangladesh at a time when Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise, The Good Muslim is an epic story about faith, family and the long shadow of war. Tahmima Anam, the prize-winning author of A Golden Age, offers a moving portrait of a sister and brother who struggle with the competing loyalties of love and belief as they cope with the lasting ravages of war and confront the deeply intimate roots of religious extremism. Echoing the intensity and humanity of Thrity Umrigar's The Space Between Us, Abraham Verghese's Cutting for Stone, and Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss, Anam's "accomplished and gripping novel", in the words of author Pankaj Mishra, "describes not only the tumult of a great historical event, but also the small but heroic struggles of individuals living in the shadow of revolution and war".The period 1971-1975 experienced the changes of role among the veterans due to their new orientation on the socio-economic-political scenarios. Siraj Sikdar was one of them who was one of the front line freedom fighters; yet he had to change his political aesthetics around 1973 and indulged in militancy by the name of "Proletarian Party". Antony Mascarenhas has commented in the "Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood" (1986) that Shamim Shikder, sister of Siraj Sikder, blames the government for the death of him in the police custody on 3 January 1975. Economic meltdown Olivier Rubin in his book Democracy and Famine has remarked that one-party state is a reality if the famine engulfs the fragile democratic society. He pointed out the 1974 famine in Bangladesh as a case study. As a new independent country, Bangladesh had to experience economic crisis. The flood in July and August, 1974 triggered the crisis exponentially. Thus, food scarcity, improper distribution of leftover food reported to have 1 to 1.5 million of death in Bangladesh. This led the then Mujib government in question. And these critical atmospheres led to the assassination of the Father of the nation according to the case study of Olivier Rubin. Incidents reflected in the literature Apart from the news of electronic and print media; the novels, poetry, and performing arts draw the harrowing pictures of the assassination. Novels Deyal (Walls) is a novel by Humayun Ahmed that narrates the assassination of the father of the nation. This is the only novel that takes the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the background, though the novel raised some contradictions on the factual inconsistencies in some cases, and eventually the court declared ruling against the publication of the book without correction. Critics say that Colonel Farooq, the killer of Bangabandhu, has been shown in this novel as a little great. However, Dr. Syed Manzoorul Islam has a distinct opinion that Humayun Ahmed had allowed him to read the draft copy of the wall. The opinion tells, Deyal may be contradictory on the political ground; but it brings the legacy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman that implicates the killing was a remarkable moment in the History of Bangladesh. == In popular culture ==

Poetry The first literary piece on the remembrance of Bangabandhu at his assassination was an elegy. It is reported and well documented that Moulovi Sheikh Abdul Halim, a village imam, at Tungipara was the first composer of the elegy in the memory of the death of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was the man who laid down the assassinated man in the grave and conducted all the funeral rites. He wrote in emotion: Poetry exceeded in numbers in comparison to other literary media to highlight the aftereffect of the assassination on 15 August 1975 and afterwards linked to the assassination of the founder of the nation. Nirmalendu Goon, Syed Shamsul Haque, Shamsur Rahman, Mahadev Saha were remarkable poets whose pen raised concern for the death of the father of the nation. Khondakar Ashraf Hossain, who describes Goon as "the most political poet among us", says the assassination profoundly moved Goon and was a turning point in his poetry, which became marked by an "abhorrence of the world". He could not understand why his countrymen accepted the killing. Hossain calls Goon's reading at a Bangla Academy event of his "An elegy for Hasan", written after the death of his friend Abul Hasan in November 1975, the "first public protest" against the assassination. The poet, Nurul Huda directly hinted to the loss of the country that Bangladesh had on 15 August 1975. His poem Fifteen August speaks; The poets of the West Bengal were likely moved by this incidents and they had to write elegiac notes, and eulogy for Bangabandhu. The poet and essayist Annada Shankar Roy writes, in his poem, Bangabandhu, that Shamsur Rahman had political and historical conscience and he could duly reflect them in his poetry. The being of Bangladesh and its struggle against tyranny is visible in the lines. Bangabandhu covered a great spaces in his writings related to the liberation war, political upheavals and even the assassination taken place in 1975. The poems referred highlight the loss, repentance, agony, and anger for the perpetrators who grasped the statue of freedom to vandalize it: • ('Bangladesh Dreams') • ('The Successful Man') • ('Name') • ('An Enlightened Man') • ('Revolution Is Thy Name') • ('A History of Golden Statue') The writer did not stop here only with the drops of tears. He dreamed of the revenge for this. Here "The Song of Electra" (Electrar Gaan) in the poetry "The Sky of Ikarus" (Ikraser Akash) (1982) reveals the motif of vengeance with the allusion of the mythical story of Electra who had intention to avenge for the killing of her father "Agamemnon". She reveals "My heat burns as a Red Hibiscus with the fire of Vengeance" (64). Films After the carnage happened on 15 August 1975; several coup d'états took place and 3 November 1975 killing of the four national leaders in the custody was second in importance. Yet, few grand literatures are written in these clamorous times of Bangladeshi history. However, August 1975, a film directed by Selim Khan is a memorable contribution in the case of performing art. This film portrays the dusky situations prevailing after the assassination of Mujibur Rahman. The 2007 television film Palashi Theke Dhanmondi (From Palashi to Dhanmondi), depicts the conspiracy behind the assassination of Mujib and his family, comparing it with the defeat of Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and the conspiracy behind his death. The 2024 film 570, portrays the 36-hour timeline from the assassination until Mujib's burial. Songs A song that creates an eternal appeal is "Jodi Raat Pohale Shona Jeto" (If the dawn spread the resurrection). If the dawn spread the resurrection Of Bangabandhu, If the highways became crowdy with procession That 'We want His freedom'; The world could have a great leader The Bangalee could get their father. The man never bowed down like a coward, Before the tyrants and miscreants, He rather snatched back our freedom From the clutches of heinous occupants. No one is so great a Bangalee That the history repeats someday, You can never cover up the truth That will peep out of the fake. Hasan Matiur Raham is the songwriter; Moloy Kumar Ganguly is the music composer and the singer for this song. In 1990, Matiur Rahman wrote this song and Moloy Kumar, the singer for the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra composed the music. He expressed that it took 15 minutes for him to make it as a song. This song first recorded in the production company of Hasan Matiur Rahman in 1991 for the election campaign of Bangladesh Awami League. This song is made to sing by Sabina Yasmin in 1997 and Farid Ahmed arranged the music for this remake. ==See also==