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{{Short description|President of Bangladesh from 1981 to 1982}}
{{Infobox Officeholder
{{other people||Abdul Sattar (disambiguation)}}
|name = Abdus Sattar<br><small>আব্দুস সাত্তার</small>
{{EngvarB|date=February 2017}}
|image = Abdus Sattar (Bangladesh).jpg
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
|imagesize = 200px
{{Infobox officeholder
|office = [[President of Bangladesh]]
| honorific-prefix =
|term_start = 30 May 1981
| name = Abdus Sattar
|term_end = 24 March 1982
| native_name = {{nobold|আব্দুস সাত্তার}}
|predecessor = [[Ziaur Rahman]]
| native_name_lang = bn
|successor = [[A.F.M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury]]
| image = President Sattar 1981 (cropped).jpg
|birth_date = 1906
| image_size =
|birth_place = Daraka of Bolpur, [[Birbhum district|Birbhum]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]]<br/>(now in [[West Bengal]], [[India]])
| office1 = 3rd [[Vice President of Bangladesh]]
|death_date = October 5, 1985
| term_start1 = June 1977
|death_place = [[Dhaka]], [[Bangladesh]]
|party =
| term_end1 = 30 May 1981
|alma_mater = [[University of Calcutta]]
| predecessor1 = [[Syed Nazrul Islam]]
| office2 = 2nd [[Bangladesh Nationalist Party#Chairpersons|Chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party]]
|religion = [[Islam]]
| 1blankname2 = General Secretary
| 1namedata2 = [[Nurul Islam Shishu]]
| term_start2 = 30 May 1981
| term_end2 = 30 May 1984
| predecessor2 = [[Ziaur Rahman]]
| successor2 = [[Khaleda Zia]]
| office3 = [[Ministry of Interior (Pakistan)|Interior Minister of Pakistan]]
| term_start3 = 17 March 1956
| term_end3 = 12 September 1956
| predecessor3 = [[A. K. Fazlul Huq]]
| successor3 = Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1906|3|1|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Birbhum district|Birbhum]], [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1985|10|5|1906|3|1|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Dhaka]], Bangladesh
| party = [[Bangladesh Nationalist Party]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Calcutta]]
| office = 7th [[President of Bangladesh]]
| termstart = 30 May 1981
| termend = 24 March 1982
| predecessor = [[Ziaur Rahman]]
| successor = [[A.F.M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury]]
| primeminister3 = [[Chaudhry Muhammad Ali]]
| president1 = [[Ziaur Rahman]]
| primeminister = [[Shah Azizur Rahman]]
| vicepresident = [[Mirza Nurul Huda]]<br />[[Mohammad Mohammadullah]]
| successor1 = Mirza Nurul Huda
}}
}}
'''Abdus Sattar'''{{efn|{{langx|bn|আবদুস সাত্তার|Abdus Sattār}} {{IPA|bn|ˈabdus ˈʃɑt̪ːɑr|}}}} (1 March 1906 – 5 October 1985) was a Bangladeshi statesman.{{efn|Sources:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bangabhaban.gov.bd/sattar.html|title=Bangabhaban – The President House of Bangladesh|work=bangabhaban.gov.bd|access-date=10 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080103023410/http://www.bangabhaban.gov.bd/sattar.html|archive-date=3 January 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rulers.org/indexs1.html|title=Index Sa|access-date=2 April 2019|archive-date=2 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102125251/http://rulers.org/indexs1.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Ends & Beginnings: Anniversaries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D5W3AAAAIAAJ&q=Abdus+Sattar |magazine=South |date=March 1985 |publisher=[[South Publications Limited]] |page=7 | isbn=978-0-907962-27-4 |issn=0260-6976}}</ref>}} A leader of the [[Bangladesh Nationalist Party]] (BNP), he served as the [[president of Bangladesh]] from 1981 to 1982, and earlier as the [[Vice President of Bangladesh|vice president]]. A jurist by profession, Abdus Sattar held numerous constitutional and political offices in [[British India]], [[East Pakistan]] and [[Bangladesh]]. He was a cabinet minister, supreme court judge, and chief election commissioner. He took oath and became president shortly after the assassination of president Ziaur Rahman.


Abdus Sattar was an elected [[executive president|president]] through a popular vote.His short lived presidency was marked by growing political turmoil and interference from the military. Abdus Sattar was overthrown in March of [[1982 Bangladesh coup d'état|1982 by]] the then army chief General H.M.Ershad.
Justice ''' Abdus Sattar'''<ref>http://www.bangabhaban.gov.bd/sattar.html</ref> ({{Audio-IPA|En-us-Abdus Sattar from Bangladesh pronunciation (Voice of America).ogg|pronunction}} {{respell|ahb|DOOSS|'}} {{respell|sah|TAHR|'}} {{Need-IPA}} 1906–1985) was the [[President of Bangladesh]] from 1981 to 1982.


==Early life and education==
== Early life and career ==
Abdus Sattar was born in 1906 in [[Birbhum]] in the then [[Bengal Presidency]], British India. He obtained his [[LLB]] and [[Master of Law]] from the [[University of Calcutta]] and joined the Calcutta High Court Bar in 1931 as a junior in the Chambers of [[A.K. Fazlul Huq]]. He specialised in Municipal Law. He became a protege of [[A. K. Fazlul Huq]], the first [[Prime Minister of Bengal]]. He served in various municipal bodies in [[Calcutta]] as an activist for the [[Krishak Praja Party]]. In 1950, following the [[Partition of British India]], Abdus Sattar moved to [[Dacca]] in the [[Dominion of Pakistan]]. He joined the [[Dhaka High Court]] Bar. He was elected to the [[Constituent Assembly of Pakistan]] in 1955. He served as the [[Interior Minister of Pakistan|Home Minister of Pakistan]] and [[Education Minister of Pakistan]] in the cabinet of Prime Minister [[Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar]] in 1957.<ref name=autogenerated4>{{cite book |last=Khan |first=Mofakkhar Hossain |year=2012 |chapter=Sattar, Justice Abdus |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Sattar,_Justice_Abdus |editor1-last=Sirajul Islam |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]] |access-date=7 August 2024 |archive-date=25 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125142203/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Sattar,_Justice_Abdus |url-status=live }}</ref> He was appointed as a [[Judge|Justice]] in the Dhaka High Court, which he served between 1957 and 1968.<ref name=autogenerated4 /> He also presided over cases in the [[Supreme Court of Pakistan]].<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news |last=Kolbert |first=Elizabeth |date=6 October 1985 |title=Abdus Sattar, Ex-Leader of Bangladesh, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/06/world/abdus-sattar-ex-leader-of-bangladesh-dies.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=4 February 2017 |archive-date=3 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403014454/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/06/world/abdus-sattar-ex-leader-of-bangladesh-dies.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Abdus Sattar was born in 1906 in Daraka of Bolpur, Birbhum district of [[West Bengal]] (now in [[India]]). Sattar obtained his MA in Political Science and Law degree in 1929 from the [[University of Calcutta]]. He joined the Calcutta Judge Court Bar.


In 1969, Abdus Sattar was appointed as the [[Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan]]. He organised the [[1970 Pakistani general election|first general election of Pakistan]] in 1970, in which the [[Awami League]] gained a historic parliamentary majority to form government. The League was denied the handover of power by the then [[military junta]] led by General [[Yahya Khan]]. As the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] erupted with a [[1971 Bangladesh genocide|genocide]] against Bengali civilians, Abdus Sattar was stranded in Islamabad, West Pakistan, removed from official positions and [[internment|interned]] by the Pakistani government. In 1973, Abdus Sattar returned to independent [[Bangladesh]] as part of the repatriation of stranded Bengali officials. He enjoyed rising prominence in [[Dhaka]], but lived a quiet life with his wife and had no children.<ref name=nytimes />
==Career==
After the Partition of India, Sattar moved to [[Dacca]], [[East Bengal]]. In 1969, he was appointed as Chief Election Commissioner of [[Pakistan]]. Abdus Sattar was appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bangladesh Jiban Bima Corporation, 1973-1974. Becoming active in the [[Bangladesh Nationalist Party]], which developed after independence, he was appointed as Chairman of the Journalist Wage Board, serving 1974-1975. After [[Ziaur Rahman]] became president following a coup and the assassination of the first prime minister, [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]], he established a government. Abdus Sattar was appointed as Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs in 1977. Sattar was Vice-President when President Zia was assassinated. Following the [[Assassination of Ziaur Rahman|assassination of Zia]] in May 1981, Sattar was elected president in November of that year when elections were held.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bangladesh Elects President |agency=Associated Press |publisher=The Evening Independent, via Google News |date=November 16, 1981 |url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ThcMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bVkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1685,27283&dq=bangladesh&hl=en }}</ref> Erhad was able to compel him to release [[Abul Manzoor|Major General Abul Manzur]], a suspect in the assassination of Zia, from police custody to army custody, where he was assassinated.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Liton|first1=Shakhawat|last2=Halder|first2=Chaitanya Chandra|title=Ershad wanted to grab power after Zia killing|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/ershad-wanted-to-grab-power-after-zia-killing-22484|website=thedailystar.net|publisher=The Daily Star|accessdate=26 June 2015}}</ref> He was removed from power by a bloodless [[coup-d'etat]] led by the army chief [[Hossain Muhammad Ershad]] on March 24, 1982. BDR chief Major General Atiqur Rahman, air force chief Air-Vice Marshal Sultan Mahmud, Major General Sadikur Rahman, military secretary to the president, and naval chief Rear Admiral M A Khan entered [[Bangabhaban]] and forced Sattar to sign a statement relinquishing power.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Liton|first1=Shakhawat|last2=Halder|first2=Chaitanya Chandra|title=Ershad wanted to grab power after Zia killing|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/ershad-wanted-to-grab-power-after-zia-killing-22484|website=thedailystar.net|publisher=The Daily Star|accessdate=26 June 2015}}</ref>


Abdus Sattar served as chairman of the board of directors in the Bangladesh Life Insurance Corporation (1973–1974), chairman of the Journalist Wage Board (1974–1975) and chairman of the [[Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs]]. In 1975, he was appointed as an adviser to President Justice [[Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem]] and vested in charge of the Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs.<ref name=autogenerated4 /> In 1977, the new president and [[Chief Martial Law Administrator]], Lt General [[Ziaur Rahman]], appointed Abdus Sattar as [[Vice President of Bangladesh|vice president]]. With the reinstatement of multiparty politics, Abdus Sattar joined the newly formed [[Bangladesh Nationalist Party]] (BNP) in 1978. Speaking of Zia, Abdus Sattar said "He was like my son. I loved him too much. I loved him because he was trying to build this small country in a better way."<ref name=autogenerated3>{{cite news |title=Acting President in Dacca Promises New Elections |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/05/world/acting-president-in-dacca-promises-new-elections.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=5 June 1981 |access-date=4 February 2017 |archive-date=2 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402232508/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/05/world/acting-president-in-dacca-promises-new-elections.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Death==
He died in Dhaka on October 5, 1985.


==See also==
== Presidency ==
[[File:Heads of State Cancun Summit 1981.jpg|thumb|Abdus Sattar (seated third on left) with world leaders at the [[North-South Summit]] in [[Cancun]], Mexico, 1981|left]]
{{S-start}}
When [[Assassination of Ziaur Rahman|Zia was assassinated]] in May 1981, a frail Vice-president Abdus Sattar was in hospital and automatically became the [[acting president]] of Bangladesh.<ref name=autogenerated3 /> Speaking to foreign reporters in [[Bangabhaban]] on 4 June, he announced that elections within 180 days of the death of the former president were on schedule as per the constitution, to "foil any conspiracy to disturb the democratic process in the country." A [[state of emergency]] was imposed. The election date of 21 September was pushed back to 15 November, as opposition parties demanded more time to campaign. Violence occurred when 12 army officers were executed after being convicted of complicity in Zia's killing.
{{s-off}}
{{succession box|title=[[List of Presidents of Bangladesh|President of Bangladesh]]|before=[[Ziaur Rahman]]|after=[[A.F.M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury]]|years=1981&ndash;1982}}
{{S-end}}


As the nominee of BNP, Abdus Sattar won the [[1981 Bangladeshi presidential election|presidential election]] in 1981, beating with a big margin his principal challenger [[Kamal Hossain]] from the [[Bangladesh Awami League]]. Hossain and other opposition groups alleged the polls were rigged. The emergency was lifted after the election. Abdus Sattar let Zia's controversial prime minister [[Shah Azizur Rahman]] continue in the top job. He appointed economist [[Mirza Nurul Huda]] as the vice president.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} Sattar appointed a 42-member Council of Ministers. He personally held the Defence and Planning portfolios. Violence against Bengalis in neighbouring [[Assam]], India flared during Abdus Sattar's presidency.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite book |editor-last=Preston |editor-first=Ian |year=2005 |orig-year=First published 2001 |title=A Political Chronology of Central, South and East Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f5wcH0abSQcC&pg=PA19 |publisher=Europa Publications |page=19 |isbn=978-1-135-35680-4 |access-date=7 December 2023 |archive-date=7 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807075045/https://books.google.com/books?id=f5wcH0abSQcC&pg=PA19#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References==

Abdus Sattar formed a [[Armed Forces Division|National Security Council]] to explore how the [[Bangladesh Armed Forces]] could contribute to the nation's development. He was elected unopposed as President of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in January 1982. Abdus Sattar then formed a new cabinet.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> Vice-president Nurul Huda resigned on 21 March 1982, claiming that he was the victim of a conspiracy within the BNP.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Preston |editor-first=Ian |year=2005 |orig-year=First published 2001 |title=A Political Chronology of Central, South and East Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f5wcH0abSQcC&pg=PA19 |publisher=Europa Publications |page=20 |isbn=978-1-135-35680-4 |access-date=7 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207180750/https://books.google.com/books?id=f5wcH0abSQcC&pg=PA19 |url-status=live }}</ref> Abdus Sattar appointed [[Mohammad Mohammadullah]] as Nurul Huda's replacement.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

=== 1982 military coup ===
A bloodless [[coup-d'etat]] led by the [[Bangladesh Army]] chief [[Hussain Muhammad Ershad]] toppled Abdus Sattar's government in 1982. On the morning of 24 March, the heads of the [[Bangladesh Navy]], the [[Bangladesh Air Force]], the [[Bangladesh Rifles]] and the military secretary to the president entered Bangabhaban and forced Abdus Sattar to sign a statement relinquishing power.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Liton |first1=Shakhawat |last2=Halder |first2=Chaitanya Chandra |date=3 March 2014 |title=Ershad wanted to grab power after Zia killing |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/ershad-wanted-to-grab-power-after-zia-killing-22484 |newspaper=The Daily Star |access-date=26 June 2015 |archive-date=3 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403104506/https://www.thedailystar.net/ershad-wanted-to-grab-power-after-zia-killing-22484 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Martial law]] was declared. Abdus Sattar was replaced by the retired justice [[A. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury]].

== Pakistan Football Federation ==
Sattar served as president of the [[Pakistan Football Federation]] between 1960 and 1961.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pakistan Football Federation |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404135433if_/http://www.pff.com.pk/history.php}}</ref>

== Death ==
Abdus Sattar died at the [[Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital|Suhrawardy Hospital]] in Dhaka on 5 October 1985, at the age of 79.<ref name=nytimes />

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


{{Presidents of Bangladesh}}
{{BangladeshPresidents}}
{{Interior Minister of Pakistan}}
{{authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdus Sattar}}
{{Persondata
| NAME = Sattar, Abdus
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = President of Bangladesh
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1906
| PLACE OF BIRTH = Daraka of Bolpur, [[Birbhum district|Birbhum]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]] (now in [[West Bengal]], [[India]])
| DATE OF DEATH = 1985
| PLACE OF DEATH = [[Dhaka]], [[Bangladesh]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sattar, Abdus}}
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:Presidents of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi Muslims]]
[[Category:Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians]]
[[Category:People from Birbhum district]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Krishak Sramik Party politicians]]
[[Category:Chief Election Commissioners of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Chief Election Commissioners of Pakistan]]
[[Category:People from Birbhum district]]
[[Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians]]
{{Pakistan-politician-stub}}
[[Category:Chairpersons of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party]]
{{Bangladesh-politician-stub}}
[[Category:Vice presidents of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Presidents of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Interior ministers of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Education ministers of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Pakistani MNAs 1955–1958]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:20th-century Bengalis]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Pakistan Football Federation]]

Latest revision as of 20:24, 9 December 2024

For other people with the same name, see Abdul Sattar (disambiguation).

Abdus Sattar
আব্দুস সাত্তার
7th President of Bangladesh
In office
30 May 1981 – 24 March 1982
Prime MinisterShah Azizur Rahman
Vice PresidentMirza Nurul Huda
Mohammad Mohammadullah
Preceded byZiaur Rahman
Succeeded byA.F.M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury
3rd Vice President of Bangladesh
In office
June 1977 – 30 May 1981
PresidentZiaur Rahman
Preceded bySyed Nazrul Islam
Succeeded byMirza Nurul Huda
2nd Chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party
In office
30 May 1981 – 30 May 1984
General SecretaryNurul Islam Shishu
Preceded byZiaur Rahman
Succeeded byKhaleda Zia
Interior Minister of Pakistan
In office
17 March 1956 – 12 September 1956
Prime MinisterChaudhry Muhammad Ali
Preceded byA. K. Fazlul Huq
Succeeded byMir Ghulam Ali Talpur
Personal details
Born(1906-03-01)1 March 1906
Birbhum, Bengal, British India
Died5 October 1985(1985-10-05) (aged 79)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Political partyBangladesh Nationalist Party
Alma materUniversity of Calcutta

Abdus Sattar[a] (1 March 1906 – 5 October 1985) was a Bangladeshi statesman.[b] A leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), he served as the president of Bangladesh from 1981 to 1982, and earlier as the vice president. A jurist by profession, Abdus Sattar held numerous constitutional and political offices in British India, East Pakistan and Bangladesh. He was a cabinet minister, supreme court judge, and chief election commissioner. He took oath and became president shortly after the assassination of president Ziaur Rahman.

Abdus Sattar was an elected president through a popular vote.His short lived presidency was marked by growing political turmoil and interference from the military. Abdus Sattar was overthrown in March of 1982 by the then army chief General H.M.Ershad.

Early life and career

[edit]

Abdus Sattar was born in 1906 in Birbhum in the then Bengal Presidency, British India. He obtained his LLB and Master of Law from the University of Calcutta and joined the Calcutta High Court Bar in 1931 as a junior in the Chambers of A.K. Fazlul Huq. He specialised in Municipal Law. He became a protege of A. K. Fazlul Huq, the first Prime Minister of Bengal. He served in various municipal bodies in Calcutta as an activist for the Krishak Praja Party. In 1950, following the Partition of British India, Abdus Sattar moved to Dacca in the Dominion of Pakistan. He joined the Dhaka High Court Bar. He was elected to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan in 1955. He served as the Home Minister of Pakistan and Education Minister of Pakistan in the cabinet of Prime Minister Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar in 1957.[4] He was appointed as a Justice in the Dhaka High Court, which he served between 1957 and 1968.[4] He also presided over cases in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.[5]

In 1969, Abdus Sattar was appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan. He organised the first general election of Pakistan in 1970, in which the Awami League gained a historic parliamentary majority to form government. The League was denied the handover of power by the then military junta led by General Yahya Khan. As the Bangladesh Liberation War erupted with a genocide against Bengali civilians, Abdus Sattar was stranded in Islamabad, West Pakistan, removed from official positions and interned by the Pakistani government. In 1973, Abdus Sattar returned to independent Bangladesh as part of the repatriation of stranded Bengali officials. He enjoyed rising prominence in Dhaka, but lived a quiet life with his wife and had no children.[5]

Abdus Sattar served as chairman of the board of directors in the Bangladesh Life Insurance Corporation (1973–1974), chairman of the Journalist Wage Board (1974–1975) and chairman of the Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs. In 1975, he was appointed as an adviser to President Justice Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem and vested in charge of the Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs.[4] In 1977, the new president and Chief Martial Law Administrator, Lt General Ziaur Rahman, appointed Abdus Sattar as vice president. With the reinstatement of multiparty politics, Abdus Sattar joined the newly formed Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in 1978. Speaking of Zia, Abdus Sattar said "He was like my son. I loved him too much. I loved him because he was trying to build this small country in a better way."[6]

Presidency

[edit]
Abdus Sattar (seated third on left) with world leaders at the North-South Summit in Cancun, Mexico, 1981

When Zia was assassinated in May 1981, a frail Vice-president Abdus Sattar was in hospital and automatically became the acting president of Bangladesh.[6] Speaking to foreign reporters in Bangabhaban on 4 June, he announced that elections within 180 days of the death of the former president were on schedule as per the constitution, to "foil any conspiracy to disturb the democratic process in the country." A state of emergency was imposed. The election date of 21 September was pushed back to 15 November, as opposition parties demanded more time to campaign. Violence occurred when 12 army officers were executed after being convicted of complicity in Zia's killing.

As the nominee of BNP, Abdus Sattar won the presidential election in 1981, beating with a big margin his principal challenger Kamal Hossain from the Bangladesh Awami League. Hossain and other opposition groups alleged the polls were rigged. The emergency was lifted after the election. Abdus Sattar let Zia's controversial prime minister Shah Azizur Rahman continue in the top job. He appointed economist Mirza Nurul Huda as the vice president.[citation needed] Sattar appointed a 42-member Council of Ministers. He personally held the Defence and Planning portfolios. Violence against Bengalis in neighbouring Assam, India flared during Abdus Sattar's presidency.[7]

Abdus Sattar formed a National Security Council to explore how the Bangladesh Armed Forces could contribute to the nation's development. He was elected unopposed as President of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in January 1982. Abdus Sattar then formed a new cabinet.[7] Vice-president Nurul Huda resigned on 21 March 1982, claiming that he was the victim of a conspiracy within the BNP.[8] Abdus Sattar appointed Mohammad Mohammadullah as Nurul Huda's replacement.[citation needed]

1982 military coup

[edit]

A bloodless coup-d'etat led by the Bangladesh Army chief Hussain Muhammad Ershad toppled Abdus Sattar's government in 1982. On the morning of 24 March, the heads of the Bangladesh Navy, the Bangladesh Air Force, the Bangladesh Rifles and the military secretary to the president entered Bangabhaban and forced Abdus Sattar to sign a statement relinquishing power.[9] Martial law was declared. Abdus Sattar was replaced by the retired justice A. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury.

Pakistan Football Federation

[edit]

Sattar served as president of the Pakistan Football Federation between 1960 and 1961.[10]

Death

[edit]

Abdus Sattar died at the Suhrawardy Hospital in Dhaka on 5 October 1985, at the age of 79.[5]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Bengali: আবদুস সাত্তার, romanized: Abdus Sattār [ˈabdus ˈʃɑt̪ːɑr]
  2. ^ Sources:[1][2][3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Bangabhaban – The President House of Bangladesh". bangabhaban.gov.bd. Archived from the original on 3 January 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  2. ^ "Index Sa". Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  3. ^ "Ends & Beginnings: Anniversaries". South. South Publications Limited. March 1985. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-907962-27-4. ISSN 0260-6976.
  4. ^ a b c Khan, Mofakkhar Hossain (2012). "Sattar, Justice Abdus". In Sirajul Islam; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Kolbert, Elizabeth (6 October 1985). "Abdus Sattar, Ex-Leader of Bangladesh, Dies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Acting President in Dacca Promises New Elections". The New York Times. 5 June 1981. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  7. ^ a b Preston, Ian, ed. (2005) [First published 2001]. A Political Chronology of Central, South and East Asia. Europa Publications. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-135-35680-4. Archived from the original on 7 August 2024. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  8. ^ Preston, Ian, ed. (2005) [First published 2001]. A Political Chronology of Central, South and East Asia. Europa Publications. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-135-35680-4. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  9. ^ Liton, Shakhawat; Halder, Chaitanya Chandra (3 March 2014). "Ershad wanted to grab power after Zia killing". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  10. ^ "Pakistan Football Federation".
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