Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding president of Bangladesh, was assassinated along with most of his family members during the early hours of 15 August 1975 by a group of Bangladesh Army personnel who invaded his residence as part of a coup d'état. The minister of commerce, Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, immediately took control and proclaimed himself head of an interim government from 15 August to 6 November 1975; he was in turn succeeded by Chief Justice Abu Sayem. The assassination marked the first direct military intervention in Bangladesh's civilian administration. 15 August was observed as National Mourning Day in Bangladesh under the government of Sheikh Hasina.
Background
Mujib's presidency
In the 1970 Pakistani general election, Sheikh Mujib's party, the Awami League (previously known as the Awami Muslim League), won the majority of the seats in the Pakistani National Assembly. They won 160 of the general 162 seats and all 7 women's seats in East Pakistan, which would later become Bangladesh after it seceded from West Pakistan. Despite Pakistan's military government delaying the handover of power, Mujib's residence had become the de facto head of government in East Pakistan by March. At the start of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, he was arrested at his home by Pakistani soldiers. On 10 April that year, the provisional government of the Bangladeshi rebellion, popularly known as the Mujibnagar Government, was established with Mujib as its head and as the leader of Bangladeshi armed forces. Following the defeat of Pakistani forces on 16 December 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was released from custody from Pakistan in London on 22 December 1971, from where he flew to India, and then to Bangladesh. Mujib led the government as Prime Minister of Bangladesh for three years after Bangladesh gained independence.
Post-war devastation in Bangladesh
After nine months of widespread destruction by the Pakistani army in 1971, Bangladesh was in ruins. Prime Minister Sheikh Mujib officially announced that the massacre had killed 3 million Bengalis and brutally raped 200,000 Bengali women by the then Pakistani army, calling it "the worst massacre in human history". The high hopes and aspirations of the people of newly independent Bangladesh were becoming increasingly difficult for the Mujib government to fulfill.
Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini controversy and outrage in the army
The Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini (JRB) was a controversial militia formed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and loyal to him personally. Although it was originally founded as a law enforcement agency to maintain internal security, it became a second national armed force and served as a political task force for the Awami League. As a result, it found little support among traditional military organisations such as the Mukti Bahini. Its 30,000 troops intimidated and tortured opponents of the Awami League in various ways. The military grew resentful of the level of funding the Rakkhi Bahini received from the Mujib government, with the former's own funding being reduced to 13% in the 1975–76 budget, a considerable decrease from the 50–60% it enjoyed during the Pakistan period. Salimullah Khan said in a symposium on 5 August 2025 that, in Mujib's 1972–1975 regime, around 10,000 JSD and other youths were killed by JRD peeling off their skins alive.
Zia-Shafiullah conflict in the army
After the war of independence, discord and disorder arose in the Bangladesh army for various reasons. The distance between the freedom fighters and the military officers who had returned to Pakistan continued to increase.
Problems also arose over the appointment of the army chief. Despite being senior, Mujib appointed K. M. Shafiullah as the army chief instead of Zia. Shafiullah said in his court statement,
On April 7, 1972, I was appointed as the Chief of Army Staff. I protested against this appointment. Because despite Ziaur Rahman and I having similar qualifications, he was before me in batch number, that is, he was my number 1 senior. I protested this to Bangabandhu along with Major Rob. We talked about protesting for about two hours with Bangabandhu. After listening to everything I said, he said, 'I have heard everything you said. There is something called a political decision. [There is something called a political decision here]' In reply I said, 'From today and now onwards; I am a victim of circumstance.' Bangabandhu said, 'You talk big, go and get the responsibility from General Osmani from tomorrow.' I told Ziaur Rahman on the telephone about my taking over and the details of my conversation with Bangabandhu. Zia then said, 'OK Shafiullah. Good bye.'
This was a political decision, as a result of which Zia became personally angry with the Mujib government. As a result, the relationship between Ziaur Rahman and Shafiullah deteriorated.
Colonel Shafaat Jamil said,
Major General Ziaur Rahman and Major General Shafiullah were batchmates. Ziaur Rahman was senior. But he was not given the post of Chief of Staff. There was no good relationship between the two.'
Shafiullah also said,
'Whenever I have taken action against any officer for breach of discipline, those officers have taken shelter with General Zia.'
Colonel (Retd.) Shawkat Ali held Ziaur Rahman responsible for creating discord in the army, saying,
If something bad happened in the army, the blame would fall on Shafiullah, but if something good happened, it would immediately be spread that it was for Zia.
According to Abu Sayyid, the author of the book Facts and Documents: Bangabandhu Khattakand and former State Minister for Information, there was always a propaganda in the army that Ziaur Rahman is the source of all virtues and merits. According to many, Ziaur Rahman was responsible for creating conflict between the returnees from Pakistan and the freedom fighters.
In addition to all these issues, there were also differences among the freedom fighters. There was no harmony between the members of Ziaur Rahman's 'Z' Force and Khaled Mosharraf and Shafiullah's 'K' and 'S' forces. The conflict between Zia, Khaled and Shafiullah began during the Liberation War. However, due to the dominance of soldiers from the 'K' and 'S' Forces in the army, Khaled and Shafiullah did not have a good relationship with Zia.
Allegation of nepotism and corruption within the Mujib-family
Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani, a politician and one of the nephews of Mujib, was appointed to senior positions in the Government formed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. When private trade with India was banned due to slow inflation, Fazlul Haque actively engaged in it with Mujibur Rahman's blessings. This was seen as an attempt by Mujibur Rahman to form a dynasty.
Near the end of 1973, Sheikh Kamal was involved in a shootout in which he suffered gunshot injuries. Multiple claims have been made as to how the shootout occurred. Many people claim that it was during an attempted robbery of a bank by Sheikh Kamal and his friends. However, a retired major general of the Bangladesh Army claimed that it was actually a case of friendly fire. Near the end of 1973, Bangladeshi security forces received intelligence that the left-wing revolutionary activist Siraj Sikder and his insurgents were going to launch coordinated attacks around Dhaka. Police and other security officers were on full alert and patrolling the streets of Dhaka in plainclothes. Sheikh Kamal and his friends were armed and also patrolling the city in a microbus looking for Siraj Sikder. When the microbus was in Dhanmondi, the police mistook Sheikh Kamal and his friends for insurgents and opened fire on them, thus injuring Sheikh Kamal. However, it is also claimed that Sheikh Kamal and his friends were in Dhanmondi to test drive a new car that his friend Iqbal Hassan Mahmood had bought recently. Since Dhaka was under heavy police patrolling, police special forces under the command of the then city SP Mahamuddin Bir Bikrom opened fire on the car thinking that the passengers were miscreants.
A 1976 issue of the Asia Yearbook stated,
"It was an open secret - that Mujib's brother, Sheikh Nazir, was alleged to have monopolised the smuggling in the southeast; that his wife took a cut in contracting World Bank projects; that his son, Sheikh Kamal, had been involved in thuggery; and that his nephew, Sheikh Moni, was fast accumulating power and wealth."
Abdul Waheed Talukder, in his book "Gonotontrer Onneshay Bangladesh" (গণতন্ত্রের অন্বেষায় বাংলাদেশ, Bangladesh in Search of Democracy), said in the 1976 issue of the Asia Yearbook,
They also spread rumors that Sheikh Kamal was shot while robbing Bangladesh Bank. But the vault of Bangladesh Bank was guarded by hundreds of policemen and this vault was so secure that it could not be destroyed without dynamite.
Marcus F. Franda in his book "Bangladesh: The First Decade" says,
Shahidul Islam's reputation in Bangladesh was also tarnished by persistent rumors that he had been intimately involved in a bank robbery and scandal in 1972 and in the assassination of seven Dacca University students in 1974.
S. R. Mirza says in his book Conversations after the War of Liberation,
I will say more about this. In 1975, a freedom fighter came to meet me. The freedom fighter said to me, sir, Bangabandhu used to say, don't spend money, get married with garlands of flowers. But he himself is marrying off his sons wearing golden crowns and it is being shown on TV. The inconsistency of these two standards and words--people will not accept it.' Then a friend of mine, I won't say his name, who was very close to Mr. Sheikh, he used to visit Mr. Sheikh's house from time to time and meet him, he worked in an oil company, after independence it was heard that Sheikh Kamal was shot while robbing a bank. While in the hospital, the gentleman said, "I then went to Bangabandhu's house, at noon, Sheikh Mujib and other members of his family were eating in the dining room. As I went, I heard Sheikh Sahib saying, 'When people start beating you, then what will I do! I don't know'." From this, it is easy to imagine that there was a problem in the leadership.
Left-wing insurgency
A left-wing insurgency from 1972 to 1975 is widely held to be responsible for creating the conditions that led to the assassination. In 1972, a leftist group named the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) was founded from a split in the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the Bangladesh Awami League. The JSD, through its armed wing Gonobahini led by Colonel Abu Taher and politician Hasanul Haq Inu, began a political massacre of government supporters, Awami League members, and police. Their campaign contributed to a breakdown of law and order in the country and paved the way for the assassination of Mujib. Hasanul Huq Inu later held the office of the Minister of Information under Sheikh Hasina's Second and Third cabinets.
Ramna massacre
Immediately after the formation of the National Socialist Party, the JSD leaders and activists started a movement against Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's National Guard. At that time, members of the National Guard were accused of being involved in many illegal activities, including attacking the houses of opposition politicians, looting, torturing, killing, and abducting opposition ideologues. On 17 March 1974, the Guard attacked JSD supporters in Ramna, which the JSD called the Ramna Massacre. On that day, when JSD activists surrounded the residence of Home Minister Muhammad Mansur Ali located in Ramana area of Dhaka, members of the National Guard opened fire on them, resulting in heavy casualties. At least 50 people were killed in the massacre.
Opposition to India
India played an important role in the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971. According to Paresh Saha, Sheikh Mujib became a symbol of India-Bangladesh friendly relations at that time.
After independence, Mujib's opponents repeatedly called Mujib an 'agent of India' and the Mujib government a puppet government of India. Pro-Chinese parties also called the Liberation War after the Indian participation a 'fight between two dogs'. They called the India-Bangladesh Pact concluded by Mujib-Indira Gandhi a 'slavery pact'. They also claim that this pact has a secret clause. Mujib's opponents repeatedly alleged that assets, vehicles, and factory equipment were being smuggled into India. None of these, especially the Mujib-Indira agreement, the double note controversy, or the car smuggling incident, were found to be factually true.