Political Culture

Of
Hussain Mohammad Ershad Regime (1982-1990)

Course Name: Introduction to Politics and Government

Course Code: PA - 121

Submitted By:
Md Rafsan Ahmed

2nd Semester

Roll: MM-042-041

Session: 2018-2019

Department Of Public Administration

University Of Dhaka

Date of Submission: 3 September 2029

Political culture is the set of attitudes, beliefs, and sentiments which give order and meaning to a

political process and which provide the underlying assumptions and rules that govern behavior in

the political system. (International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 1968). It also defined as

the pattern of shared values, moral norms beliefs and attitudes, and expectations and also

orientation among members of political system. Political culture varies from country to country

and political party to political party. In this assignment I will discuss about the political culture

of Hussain Mohammad Ershad period in Bangladesh.

On April 24, 1982, Ershad usurped state power as the Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA)

by removing the elected government of President Abdus Sattar through a bloodless revolution,

and three days later he appointed Justice Abul Fazl Mohammad Ahsanuddin Chowdhury as the

President. Ershad suspended the constitution and declared martial law. Ershad assumed him as

president on 11 December 1983 by removing Chowdhury. After being the president of the

country he declared to return the democratic rule within two years but his this speech continued

till 1990 and that day never came in his time.

Ershad moved forcibly to end corruption and reorganize the government in order to decentralize

decision making authority, development projects plan and made huge changes in the system of

the government and country. A number of hundred politicians, six former cabinet ministers, were

jailed on charges of corruption. In order to outline procedures for this decentralization project, he

appointed the Committee for Administrative Reforms, which instituted comprehensive changes

in local administration. The Land Reforms Ordinance of 1984 granted important rights to tenants

for the first time in the history of Bangladesh, and a new plan for the divestment of government

industries promised to move the country away from socialism. (Heitzman & Worden, 1989).

Ershad scheduled and re-scheduled dates for elections at all levels. In spite of opposition from

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two major rival parties and their respective combines of smaller parties, Ershad managed to hold

the Upazila elections as well as a referendum on himself in 1985, a presidential election in 1986,

and a parliamentary election the same year.

On 1982 to 1986(before election), in Bangladesh there had Parochial political culture. In

parochial political culture, citizens are only remotely aware of the presence of central

government, and live their lives near enough regardless of the decisions taken by the state. As

Ershad was not an elected president, he tried to make him as a dictator. So people were not so

much interested about the government. They thought that if they tried to influence the

government, it would be harmful for them. In 1982-1986, people of Bangladesh also thought that

if they could try to influence the government, government put them into jail. So people were not

so much interested about the government.

Ershad established a political party named Jatiya Party on January 1, 1986 for making him as an

elected president of the people though other political party refused the election and votes. In

March 1986, Ershad removed military commanders from key civil posts and abolished martial

law offices and more than 150 military courts in an attempt to ease martial law restrictions.

Because these moves satisfied some of the demands of the opposition, an eight-party alliance

comprising the Awami League and some smaller parties agreed to participate in parliamentary

elections. On 7 May 1986 president election held. Jatiya Party nominated Ershad in the

Presidential Election of 1986, which was organized by his government. The Jatiya Party won 153

seats in the national elections. On 15 October 1986, Ershad was elected President of Bangladesh.

But the election was viewed as neither neutral nor fair. However, the seven-party alliance led by

the Bangladesh Nationalist Party boycotted the May 1986 elections, and according to the

opposition parties the elections were marred by extensive fraud, including overt support for

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Jatiya Party candidates by Ershad and other government officials, theft of ballot boxes, and

beatings of opposition party workers. Official figures claimed the turnout at the polls was

between 45 and 50 percent of the electorate, but other observers estimated that only 10 to 30

percent participated. Ershad easily outdistanced the remaining candidates, taking 84% of the

vote. (Heitzman & Worden, 1989). Although Ershad's government claimed a turnout of more

than 50%, opposition leaders, and much of the foreign press, estimated a far lower percentage

and alleged voting irregularities. (Background Note, 2008).

Ershad called Parliament into session on November 10, 1986, to consider a seventh amendment

to the Constitution, which would support his assumption of power in 1982 and all following

actions of his martial law administration. The opposition again took to the streets in protest. The

Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jamaat e Islami, and a leftist five-party alliance led a general strike

on November 10. The Awami League, demanding the lifting of martial law, boycotted

Parliament and instead held a "parallel parliament" on the stairs of Parliament House. Inside, the

223 representatives present for the session voted unanimously in favor of the Seventh

Amendment, and hours later Ershad announced in a national address the withdrawal of martial

law and the full restoration of the Constitution.(Heitzman & Worden, 1989). Prime Minister

Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury proclaimed these events a "glorious chapter," but Hasina described

them as a "black chapter" in Bangladesh's history. (Heitzman & Worden, 1989). In this time,

Jatiya Party’s members were the majorities in the parliament, so they could pass any bill or any

amendment of the constitution in the parliament. What opposite parties or Citizens wanted they

did not care. There had a huge gap between the government parties and other opposition parties.

Ershad's style of democracy did not include the participation of the opposition, which had

weathered a long political storm.

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Ershad used the religion to get positive support from the citizens through the Eighth Amendment

to the Constitution of Bangladesh. Religion based politics was one of the political culture of

Ershad. On 7 June 1988, Islam was declared as the state religion of Bangladesh (Article 2,

Clause A) with the provision that other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in the

republic. As Ershad failed to legitimize his rule through popular support, he befriended some

influential pirs, those of Atrashi, Charmonai and Sarsina, for example, and some Anglo-

Mohammedan leaders who congratulated him for the State Religion Act. (I.HASHMI). Before

this, February 21, which stands as the very epitome of secular Bengali nationalism, was given an

Islamic twist by Ershad. In early 1983 he declared that the drawing of “Alpana” (painted

designs) on the premises of the Shaheed Minar was an un-Islamic practice and should be

substituted with recitations from the Holy Quran. Referring to the significance of February 21 he

declared: “This time the movement is for the establishment of an Islamic state.” (Ghosh, 1989).

Most of the people of this country are Muslims. So Ershad used Islam in his politics. Thus he got

a number of supports from the Muslim people. Though secularism and state religion Islam do not

go together, Ershad did it for his personal interest and this religion based political culture

continued of all the time of his regime.

After the 1986 general elections, Awami League led 8-party alliance took a streets once again

that bolstered the movement launched by BNP led 7-party alliance and Leftist 5-party alliance in

1987 and the students, DUCSU and members of the civil society also played an active role in the

upsurge. The watershed in the anti Ershad movement came in June-October 1990 when the

Jatiotabadi Chatra Dal affiliated with BNP won the Students’ union election in Dhaka

University. (Maniruzzaman, 1992). On October 10, 1990, several people were killed by

government forces and on November 27, Dr. Shamsul Alam Milon was killed by government

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forces in the Dhaka University Campus. (Maniruzzaman, 1992). Besides this, many others were

arrested. Thus Ershad killed and arrested the people, who were against him. It proved the

dictatorship political culture of Ershad regime because dictators also followed the process like

Ershad.

Political culture of Ershad can be defined with dictatorship, parochial and religion based as he

could not tolerate criticism or movement against him and for this he arrested and jailed many

people also he used Islam to got positive support from the people.. Ershad has been accused of

destroying democracy but look at the current state of democracy in the country during the period

following his. (The Daily Star, 2019). During the Ershad regime, the major slogans were

nationalism, development and democracy. Instead the ruling party adapted the slogan of

development and the opposition parties campaigned on the slogan of restoration of democracy.

The Islam in public life and in politics is one of the most conspicuous tendencies of that period.

(Sikdar & Shohag, 2016). Ershad's fans show infrastructure development as the main

achievement of his nine-year rule but his critics say Ershad was interested in building roads and

bridges as it was easy to embezzle money from these projects. ( Bdnews24, 2019). Though

Ershad tried to do the infrastructure development of the country, his political culture and his

ideologies faded these developments. That’s why anti Ershad movements were held. The fall of

the military regime of General H. M. Ershad in 1990 ushered in a new phase in democratic

politics in Bangladesh. (Alam, 1995).

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 REFERENCES
International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences(1968). (Vol. 12). New York, USA.

Heitzman, J., & Worden, R. (Eds.). (1989). Bangladesh: A Country Study. (Library of Congress)
Retrieved from Country Studies: http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/

Background Note. (2008, March). Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs .

I.HASHMI, T. (n.d.). Islamic Resurgence in Bangladesh:Genesis, Dynamics and Implications.

Retrieved from Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies:
https://apcss.org/Publications/Edited%20Volumes/ReligiousRadicalism/PagesfromReligiousRadi
calismandSecurityinSouthAsiach3.pdf

Ghosh, P. S. (1989). Cooperation and Conflict in South Asia . Dhaka: University Press.

Maniruzzaman, T. (1992). The Fall of the Military Dictator: 1991 Elections and the Prospect of
Civilian Rule in Bangladesh. Pacific Affairs , 203-224.

The Daily Star. Dated on July 14,2019.

Sikdar, M. M., & Shohag, M. M. (2016). Democracy and Authoritarianism: Understanding Three
Decades of Bangladesh Politics. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences , 6.

Bdnews24. Dated on July 14,2019

Alam, S. M. (1995). Democratic politics and the fall of the militaryregime in Bangladesh.
Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars

EMAIL ID: mdrafsan705@gmail.com

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