| Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad | |
|---|---|
| President of Bangladesh | |
| In office 15 August 1975 – 6 November 1975 |
|
| Preceded by | Mujibur Rahman |
| Succeeded by | Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1918 Daspara, British Raj (now Bangladesh) |
| Died | 5 March 1996 (aged 77–78) Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Political party | Awami League (1949–1975; 1975–1996) |
| Other political affiliations |
All-India Muslim League (Before 1949) Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (1975) |
| Alma mater | University of Dhaka |
| Religion | Islam |
Khondaker Moshtaq Ahmad (also spelled Khandakar Mushtaq Ahmed and phonetically spelt Khondokar Mushtak Ahmed) (1918 – March 5, 1996) was a Bangladeshi politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 15 August to 6 November 1975 after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh. Ahmad played important roles in maintained contacts with anti-Mujib and Islamic political groups. A conservative leader, Ahmad opposed Mujib's socialism, secularism and pro-India policies. Despite this, Ahmad remained in Mujib's cabinet and was appointed a member of the BAKSAL executive committee when Mujib banned other political parties, declaring himself president.
Sheikh Mujib and all but two members of his family were assassinated by a group of army officers on 15 August 1975, apparently with the concurrence of Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad.[1] Khondaker immediately took control of the government, proclaiming himself president. Several of the army officers were promoted two or three ranks ahead, e.g. Major Syed Faruque Rahman was promoted as Colonel. Major General Ziaur Rahman, husband of Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, was appointed as Chief of Staff of Bangladesh Army. Khondaker also ordered the imprisonment of pro-Mujib leaders Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, A. H. M. Qamaruzzaman and Muhammad Mansur Ali. He replaced the national slogan of Joy Bangla with the Bangladesh Zindabad slogan and changed the name Bangladesh Betar to 'Radio Bangladesh'. More controversially, he proclaimed the Indemnity Ordinance, which granted immunity from prosecution to the assassins of Mujib. Mujib's daughters Sheikh Hasina Wazed and Sheikh Rehana were barred from returning to Bangladesh from abroad. BAKSAL and pro-Mujib political groups were dissolved.
On 3 November, the four imprisoned pro-Mujib leaders were assassinated while imprisoned at the Dhaka Central Jail. However, Ahmad was ousted from power on 6 November in a coup led by pro-Mujib military officers Khaled Mosharraf and Shafat Jamil.
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Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad would be imprisoned by the Major General Khaled Mosharraf regime and later by the regime of Ziaur Rahman till 1978. Upon his release, he formed Democratic League and attempted to resuscitate his political career, but to no avail. He spent his last years in Dhaka and died on March 5, 1996.
Ahmad was named in the investigation of the murder of Sheikh Mujib launched in 1996 by his daughter Sheikh Hasina, who had just won the national elections and become Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Due to his death, he was not charged or tried. Historians and critics assert that Ahmad was one of the key plotters of Mujib's murder. He is also criticised for legitimising political murders by protecting Mujib's killers. Mujib's killer Colonel Abdur Rashid, now in self-exile in Libya and Pakistan, was his nephew, and another killer Colonel Syed Faruque Rahman was Colonel Rashid's wife's brother-in-law.
He is also known to be responsible for the heinous killing of the four national leaders, who led the country during the liberation war in absence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, former Vice President Syed Nazrul Islam, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Tajuddin Ahmed and Captain Muhammad Mansur Ali, and former interior minister A H M Qamaruzzaman on 3 November 1975 inside the Dhaka Central Jail, commemorated as Jail Killing Day.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mujibur Rahman |
President of Bangladesh 1975 |
Succeeded by Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem |
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