A military coup was launched in Bangladesh on 15 August 1975, by mid-ranking army officers in order to assassinate President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, also known as Bangabandhu (lit. 'Friend of Bengal') or Mujib, was the country's founding president, but post-independence his administration grew corrupt and reportedly 'increasingly authoritarian' until he formed a 'one-party state' led by the socialist Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League. Mujib was killed during the coup, along with many of his family members who were living in Bangladesh at the time, but he was survived by his two then-expat daughters, one of whom was future prime minister Sheikh Hasina. The officers were led by Capt. Abdul Majed, Major Syed Faruque Rahman, Major Khandaker Abdur Rashid and Major Shariful Haque Dalim.
Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, one of Mujib's close associates and cabinet ministers, took control of the government immediately following the coup with the support of the officers and declared himself President of Bangladesh. Under martial law, he made a proclamation on 20 August to amend the constitution to omit the provision for the legal basis for the one-party system. He reportedly praised the assassin officers, calling them "Children of the Sun", and proclaimed the Indemnity Ordinance, which granted them immunity from prosecution. They were all later toppled by a counter-coup on 3 November 1975.
Background
The All-Pakistan Awami League won the 1970 Pakistani general election, but Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the party's leader, was denied by the Pakistani government the position of the prime minister of Pakistan; this was a result of long-time vocal opposition between Bengali citizens of Pakistan and the West Pakistan-based Establishment. As the democratic demands and protests continued, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered a speech on 7 March that brought the Bengalis together to become prepared for a war of independence. On 25 March 1971, as part of Operation Searchlight, the Pakistan Army launched an armed operation killing intellectuals in Dhaka University; the following day, high-level East Pakistani officials declared Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan, triggering the 9-month 1971 war that ended with the surrender of Pakistani Forces in Bangladesh to an allied force of Bangladesh Mukti Bahini and Indian Armed Forces. In 1973, Sheikh Mujibur's Bangladesh Awami League won the first parliamentary election in independent Bangladesh by a landslide, but accusations of rigging grew.
In 1973, Shariful Haque Dalim and his wife were involved in a scuffle with the sons of Gazi Golam Mostafa, a leader of the Awami League, at a function at the Dhaka Ladies Club. In retaliation, some officers and soldiers of the Lancer unit and 2 Field Artillery Regiment of the Bangladesh Army attacked Golam Mostofa's residence. As a result, Major Dalim, Major S.H.M.B Noor Chowdhury, and other officers were charged with breach of discipline. Major Dalim had sought help from President Sheikh Mujib but was refused. Major Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan resigned from the army over the incident. Major Dalim and Major Noor were among the officers who lost their commissions over the charges of indiscipline.
In 1974, Sayed Farooq had become dissatisfied with the Awami League government. He would often discuss his dissatisfaction with Major General Ziaur Rahman who was the deputy chief of army staff. Ziaur Rahman had suggested that Faruque should "do something" about the situation in one such meeting.
Abdur Rashid was able to communicate with Commerce Minister Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmed about the situation in the country. Rashid, Dalim, and Moshtaque decided that they must dissolve the one-party system, BAKSAL and remove Sheikh Mujib from power. Rashid informed Faruque, who agreed with the plan, and he was also told that Major General Zia would support them.
Execution of the coup
Cantonment
On 15 August 1975, President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was scheduled to attend the convocation ceremony of Dhaka University in the morning. Before the day on 14 August there was bomb attack in Dhaka University which was suspected to be an attack by the JSD. That night, the president's eldest son Sheikh Kamal and the security forces were busy securing the university campus. On the same day, an Indian military helicopter was reported crashed near Noakhali after hitting a bird, killing the pilot and some of the passengers. Although tension prevailed in various parts of Dhaka city, the situation in Dhaka Cantonment was observed to be normal.
As the evening of 14 August approached, the vehicles of the army's 2nd Field Regiment were mobilized. Under the guise of regular night training, 105mm howitzers were towed from a unit south of Dhaka Cantonment to the under-construction Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Kurmitola. Around 10:00 PM, T-54 tanks of the Bengal Lancers emerged from the northern end of the cantonment, eventually concentrating 18 cannons and 28 tanks at the airport. At 11:30 PM, the participating officers gathered, and in the early hours of 15 August, Major Syed Farooq Rahman, who was in charge of the operation, briefed them on the tactical plan at the squadron office near the airport. The rebels were divided into four groups, with the primary target being the residence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi Road 32. The plan involved two perimeters: an inner circle to launch the direct assault and an outer circle to intercept any reinforcements from the Rakkhi Bahini or the army. Major Noor and Major Huda were assigned the outer circle, tasked with setting up roadblocks at Dhanmondi Road 27, Sobhanbagh Mosque, and the Road 32 bridge. Simultaneous attacks were also planned for the homes of Sheikh Fazlul Huq Mani and Abdur Rab Serniabat. Although Major Farooq requested Major Dalim to be present during the attack on the President's house, Dalim took charge of the assault on Serniabat's residence instead, citing "prior relations," and set off with a platoon of soldiers in a truck and a high-speed jeep fitted with a heavy machine gun. Risaldar Moslemuddin Khan was assigned two platoons to attack Sheikh Mani's house, while Major Shahriar led a company to secure the radio station, Dhaka university, and New Market areas, with the additional task of neutralizing any potential resistance from the BDR at Pilkhana. Major Farooq personally led 28 tanks to Sher-e-Bangla Nagar to intercept the Rakkhi Bahini; while these tanks were loaded with machine gun bullets, they carried no shells. For the direct assault on the President's house, 350 soldiers in 12 trucks were placed under the command of Major A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed. Major Rashid had no role in the direct attack but was tasked with coordinating the political situation and post-operation management. He oversaw 18 cannons, loaded and aimed at the Rakkhi Bahini headquarters and the President's residence. After the briefing, the groups departed the airport at 4:00 AM. The residences of Abdur Rab Serniabat and Sheikh Mani were attacked at 5:15 AM, followed by the assault on the President's residence at 5:30 AM.
A coup was going to happen at midnight. Former DGFI chief Brigadier Rauf was the first to get such a hint through sources around 2 to 3 AM. but reportedly remained inactive. The army chief K. M. Shafiullah claimed, fearing the unknown, Brigadier Rauf immediately left his home and took safe shelter with his family behind the house under a tree who came out in the morning and narrated various unrelated 'stories' to cover up his failure making statements in the newspapers. The head of military intelligence, Lieutenant Colonel Salauddin, received news of the movement of soldiers and tanks between 4:30 AM and 5 AM. Then he rushed to the house of Army Chief Shafiullah and informed him of the situation. Army Chief Shafiullah kept calling the President, but could not get through. Then he kept calling everywhere. The Army Chief got Brigade Commander Shafaat Jamil on the phone at 5:30 AM. He ordered Shafaat to move the 1st Bengal and 4th Bengal Regiments to resist the mutineers, but Shafaat Jamil remained inactive claiming that the army chief did not give him any order. Then the Army chief also spoke to DGFI chief Jamil Uddin Ahmed on the phone. The DGFI chief rushed to the spot after receiving the President's call and was killed by the mutineers. The army chief got the president on the phone at around 5:50 AM. The President informed him that his house was under attack. It was around 5:55 AM. After that, there was no response on his phone. Shafiullah heard gunshots on the phone and the connection was lost soon after. Then Shafiullah called Deputy Army Chief Ziaur Rahman and Brigadier Khaled Mosharraf and asked them to come to his house. He also called the Air Chief, the Naval Chief and the station commander of Dhaka Cantonment Colonel Hamid. Then he rushed to the office. But in the end failed to mount any effective resistance against the rebels. The President was killed at around 6 am.
Bangabandhu House
The operation at the personal residence of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was led by Major A. K. M. Mohiuddin Ahmed. Major Bazlul Huda was placed in the team as he was the adjutant to the 2nd Field Regiment of Artillery, which was guarding the home of the President. The team also included Major S.H.M.B Noor Chowdhury. Captain Abul Bashar, who was in charge of the guards, had served under Major Dalim.
Before the attack on his residence at Dhanmondi 32, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman received news of the assault on the home of his relative and cabinet member, Abdur Rab Serniabat. House staff members Md. Selim (Abdul) and Abdur Rahman Sheikh (Roma) were sleeping on the balcony outside the room where Mujib was staying. From his second-floor room, Mujib telephoned his personal assistant, AFM Mohitul Islam, who was on the ground floor, and instructed, "Miscreants have attacked Serniabat's residence. Call the police control room immediately." After failing to get a response from the police control room, Mohitul attempted to contact the exchange at Ganabhaban (the then President's office). At approximately 5:30 AM, just as the guards at the residence began hoisting the national flag to the sound of a bugle, a direct attack on the house commenced from the south. Some of the guards were killed defending the residence after the mutineers tried to force their way in.
The police on duty also started firing back. Shortly after, Mujib opened the door of his room and stepped out onto the balcony. Household staff members Abdul and Roma woke up at that time. Following the instructions of Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, Roma went downstairs and looked outside the main gate, where he observed members of the army advancing toward the residence while firing. Returning inside, Roma saw Mujib descending to the ground floor dressed in a lungi and an undershirt. Upon reaching the second floor, he found Begum Mujib running about in a state of panic. Roma then went to the third floor and woke up Mujib's eldest son, Sheikh Kamal, and his wife, Sultana Kamal. After hearing the news, Sheikh Kamal went down to the ground floor, while Sultana Kamal stayed on the second floor. Roma also woke up Sheikh Jamal and his wife on the second floor. Jamal took his wife to Fazilatunnesa Mujib's room on the second floor. Sheikh Mujib came down in the middle of the gunfire and started talking to the police on duty. Everyone assumed that these were sneak attacks by the JSD and the PBSP. Amidst the gunfire, Mohitul continued to make phone calls to various places from the office in the presence of Mujib. During the attempts to reach the police control room and the Ganabhaban exchange, Mujib took the receiver himself and said, "This is President Sheikh Mujib speaking..." At that moment, a volley of bullets shattered the window glass and struck the office walls. A fragment of the glass injured Mohitul's right elbow. The firing through that window continued unabated. Mujib lay down on the floor beside the table and pulled Mohitul down to safety. Meanwhile, Fazilatunnesa Mujib sent Mujib's kurta and spectacles through the household staff, Abdul. When the firing subsided momentarily, Mujib stood up and put on the kurta and glasses brought by Abdul. Stepping out from that ground-floor room onto the balcony, Mujib questioned the army and police personnel on guard, "So much firing is going on, what are you doing?" After saying this, Mujib headed upstairs. According to the police on duty, Bangabandhu thought that maybe the army men had come to help him this time. So, thinking that he would be 'same raid', he ordered the police to stop firing, and then went upstairs. When the police stopped firing on the order of the President, the attackers easily entered the residence. The guards surrendered after a brief firefight and were lined up outside the house.