President Ziaur Rahman | Ziaur Rahman Speech

President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh was killed in the southern city of Chittagong. He was 45 years old.

It was believed that General Ziaur Rahman died in an accident, on the other hand, there was no immediate confirmation. India Press trust, reported from Dacca, present name Dhaka the Bangladesh capital dhaka, that the announcement was made in a special broadcast on that time, the circumstances of the General Ziaur Rahman's death were not given. According the radio, Vice President Abdus Sattar took over as acting President then. Reports said that a 40 day period of national mourning had been announced by the Government.

Communications between Dacca and Calcutta were cut off on that day. General Ziaur Rahman seized power soon after Sheik Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence from Pakistan, was assassinated August 15, 1975. A Strict Leader By LES LEDBETTER

When General Ziaur Rahman seized power in Bangladesh six years ago, he was hailed as the strict leader which struggling nation needed.

After the coup which gave him the presidency, soft-spoken military man as hard-working and incorruptible in his personal life. He was able to make the tough decisiions needed to lift the new nation.

Some critics even called General Ziaur Rahman ruthless. The reason behind, he was unfazed by the secret trial and execution of at least 200 soldiers who tried to overthrow him in 1977.

He told an interviewer, that his type of rule was necessary, which broke away from Pakistan. And even his critics acknowledged that he seeemed to be making headway against the problems of overp-opulation and poverty in his country. Urged Population Control Shortly after the coup which brought him to power in 1975, General Ziaur Rahman began making unpopular statements, such as ''Population control must be our nation's No.

Contrary to his predecessors, the general eliminated much of the politics & it’s cricis in the civil service and began streamlining state industries on that time. Inflation went down .Born in the north-western city of Bogra on January 19, 1936, he joined the army at the age of  17. After a Pakistani crackdown on civilians, it was  General Ziaur Rahman, then a regimental commander in the port city of Chittagong, Bangladesh. who declared the independence of Bangladesh on that time.

In that radio broadcast, It has telecast that he would be President of the new country. On the other hand, he had to yield that power to Sheik Mujibur Rahman, a flamboyant leader.

In the war with Pakistan the declaration of independence, Ziaur Rahman, on that time, was a lieutenant colonel, commanded a brigade that became known as the ''Z Force.'' (bahini). After that, he acquired a reputation for icy bravery.

General Ziaur Rahman had just been fired as army Chief of Staff in 1975 which time, he took power after the assassination of Sheik Mujibur rahman.