Abdus Sattar (president)

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Abdus Sattar
আব্দুস সাত্তার
A.F.M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury
2nd 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 (now West Bengal, India)
Died5 October 1985(1985-10-05) (aged 79)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Political partyBangladesh Nationalist Party
Alma materUniversity of Calcutta

Abdus Sattar (1 March 1906

British India, East Pakistan and Bangladesh
. He was a cabinet minister, supreme court judge, and chief election commissioner.

Abdus Sattar was one of the few

1982 Bangladesh coup d'état
.

Early life and career

Abdus Sattar was born in 1906 in

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

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 of Bangladesh. 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

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

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

A bloodless

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
.

Death

Abdus Sattar died at the

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

References

  1. .
  2. ^ "Index Sa". Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  3. ^ "BANGABHABAN – The President House of Bangladesh". bangabhaban.gov.bd. Archived from the original on 3 January 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  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.
  5. ^ a b c Kolbert, Elizabeth (6 October 1985). "Abdus Sattar, Ex-Leader of Bangladesh, Dies". The New York Times.
  6. ^ a b "Acting President in Dacca Promises New Elections". The New York Times. 5 June 1981.
  7. ^ .
  8. .
  9. ^ Liton, Shakhawat; Halder, Chaitanya Chandra (3 March 2014). "Ershad wanted to grab power after Zia killing". The Daily Star. Retrieved 26 June 2015.