Over the past decade and a half, various forms of propaganda and misinformation have been spread about 7 November. The day was even removed from the government’s list of public holidays so that it could not be discussed or debated. A natural question may arise: why such hostility towards this day? Is 7 November merely a date on the calendar? Was it truly a spontaneous revolution by the soldiers and the people? Was 7 November inevitable? And how much objective analysis of this revolution has there been over the years?

Background and Political Situation

Let us begin from a little back.On 15 August, the country’s then President was killed along with members of his family. Needless to say, any killing is tragic. Yet neither the people of the country nor even members of his own party rose in protest against the assassination. The headlines in the newspapers the following day did not reflect the qualities of an undisputed leader; nor did they even carry an ordinary tribute of mourning.

With the emergence of BAKSAL, there were then only four newspapers under government control—two in Bangla and two in English. The headline in The Ittefaq that day read, ‘Armed Forces Take Over State Power Under the Leadership of Khondaker Mostaq’. The editorial published in the first column of its front page was headlined ‘A Historic New Beginning’. The Dainik Bangla carried the headline ‘Khondaker Mostaq New President’, while its editorial was titled ‘A Historic Step’.

There was no reaction, protest or report about the killings that had taken place the previous day. Instead, the newspapers highlighted the merits of what was presented as a positive change. At the time, General Shafiullah was the Chief of Army Staff; he later became a Member of Parliament nominated by the Awami League.

Khondaker Mostaq imposed martial law on 20 August 1975, with effect from 15 August. The parliament, in which the Awami League held a majority, remained in place. There was no discussion of the Constitution. The chiefs of all the services publicly declared their allegiance and cooperation with the Mostaq government through the media. Army officers directly involved in the August 1975 killings established their positions at Bangabhaban with tanks and heavy weapons. In effect, they were operating outside the Army command structure and in close proximity to President Mostaq..

The country was then gripped by extreme uncertainty. The famine of 1973–74 had not yet run its course. Emaciated bodies of people who had died of starvation lay scattered along the streets. Essential commodities had disappeared from the markets, and law and order had collapsed.

Unrest in the Army and Khaled Mosharraf’s Coup

Meanwhile, on 25 August 1975, Deputy Chief of Army Staff General Ziaur Rahman was appointed Chief of Army Staff, while the incumbent Army Chief, General Shafiullah, was appointed Ambassador.

Although the astute Khondaker Mostaq appointed General Zia as Army Chief, he could not place unquestioning trust in him. Consequently, in an entirely unprecedented move, he placed two more officials above General Zia in an attempt to obstruct the establishment of his command within the Army.

General Khalilur Rahman was appointed Chief of Defence Staff, with authority over the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force. To create an even more impenetrable obstacle, General Osmani was appointed Defence Adviser. Both men, on various pretexts, withheld cooperation from General Zia at every step he took to restore discipline in the Army.

At the same time, Chief of General Staff (CGS) General Khaled Mosharraf and the commander of the 46 Brigade, Shafaat Jamil, began vigorously campaigning in support of a carefully orchestrated plan to establish a different line of authority within the Army, questioning the ability of the service chiefs to restore command and discipline.

On the night of 2 November, a revolt broke out at Dhaka Cantonment with the support of the 46 Brigade. Army Chief Ziaur Rahman was taken into custody. Khaled Mosharraf, who led the revolt, spent the entire day on 3 November seeking Khondaker Mostaq’s favour for appointment as Army Chief. He succeeded that night.

On 4 November, Khaled Mosharraf’s brother, Awami League MP Rashed Mosharraf, and their mother went to Dhanmondi 32 with a procession of Awami League leaders and activists to offer floral tributes in support of Khaled Mosharraf’s coup.

The jail killings took place on the night of 3 November. On the same night, as part of an understanding with Khaled Mosharraf and his associates, Faruk, Rashid, Dalim, Huda, Noor, Pasha and Mosleh Uddin, along with their families and personal belongings, were flown safely to Bangkok aboard a Bangladesh Biman Fokker F27 Friendship aircraft.

Arrangements were even made, as planned, for the aircraft to refuel once in Chattogram, since it could not cover the entire long journey on a single tank of fuel.

The soldiers-people’s uprising and General Zia’s release

The ordinary soldiers strongly disapproved of these self-serving activities, which were being carried out in the name of restoring discipline in the Army. Anger and protest were building up among them.

Meanwhile, Khaled Mosharraf’s so-called coup and the jubilant Awami League procession in support of it raised fears among the people, who had begun to breathe freely in a Bangladesh freed from authoritarian rule, that BAKSAL-style repression might return. They, too, were waiting to be freed from the grip of this evil force.

Added to this was the campaign for the 12-point demands of the Revolutionary Soldiers’ Organisation. The people of the country were then waiting for a leader who could take firm control of the situation and steer the nation out of uncertainty.

The Army, for its part, expected to be led by a trusted and genuinely patriotic Army Chief. The soldiers did not take General Zia’s confinement at the hands of Khaled Mosharraf lightly. As a result, the expectations of both the soldiers and the people converged on a single name: ‘Ziaur Rahman’.

In the early hours of 7 November, patriotic soldiers freed General Zia, the leader they considered worthy of their trust, from captivity. Meanwhile, the spontaneous public response reassured the people, as on 26 March 1971, that the tested and exceptionally courageous patriot, Major Zia, had once again taken the helm of the country at a critical moment in November 1975.

Meanwhile, a group of JSD-backed soldiers, instigated by Colonel Taher and Hasanul Haq Inu, turned Dhaka Cantonment into a city of death with their 12-point demands and some bizarre slogans, including: ‘Soldiers, soldiers, brothers all; we want officers’ blood.’ In this bloodbath, 13 Army officers, including a woman doctor, were killed.

After 7 November, Ziaur Rahman faced the difficult challenge of leading a Bangladesh that was in disarray and without direction. Justice Abu Sayeem was the head of state under the previously declared martial law regime. Zia and the other service chiefs served as his deputies. An important theoretical question still remains before us.

Gains and Achievements of 7 November

What would have happened to Bangladesh had 7 November not taken place? There was certainly a risk that our sovereignty might have been jeopardised. There was also the possibility that discipline might never have been restored in the Army. Under the oppression of one-party BAKSAL rule, our dreams and aspirations for independence might have remained forever beyond our reach.

Perhaps it is an unseen source of relief for us that these feared outcomes did not materialise. But the list of what we gained from 7 November is much longer:

7 November freed us from the misrule of one-party BAKSAL.

It gave us freedom of the press, ending the controlled publication of just four newspapers.

It gave us a common national identity: ‘Bangladeshi’, based on equal rights regardless of religion, colour, ethnicity, community, language, culture, or whether one comes from the hills or the plains.

It replaced the restricted and controlled economic model of socialism with an economy offering greater prosperity and an open, unrestricted free market.

It opened up the international labour market for our unemployed young people.

It created opportunities for women to enter independent and dignified employment.
An aid-dependent economy was replaced by a stronger economic foundation based on remittances and the readymade garment industry.

A famine-stricken Bangladesh became self-sufficient in food.

Bangladesh earned international recognition and prestige through its election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

It secured a respected position in the Muslim world and responsible posts on prestigious committees of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Above all, our independence and sovereignty were secured.

This is how history, from age to age, records tales of heroism, and how a nation finds a worthy son at its moment of crisis. Like our War of Independence, 7 November is another immortal tale of heroism. It is a unique chapter in history that bears witness to the unity and solidarity of the soldiers and the people.

If this current of unity continues, Bangladesh will remain secure, our territory and borders will remain safe, and the future generations will be protected.

The author is Convener of the BNP Media Cell.

(The article was originally written in Bengali and translated into English by Harun Al Nasif, City Editor, BSS.)