Included in Pakistan since 1947 under the name of Eastern Pakistan, Bangladesh immediately began to show strong autonomic tendencies, both for its geographical position, for its ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity, and for the number of residents. The centralizing and authoritarian politics of Pakistan and its tormented internal events exacerbated this situation, which resulted in riots, strikes and the formation of opposition parties, such as the Awami League, which launched a campaign in favor of independence. In 1971, after the Pakistani government’s failure to recognize the electoral victory of the Awami League (December 1970), led by Mujibur Rahman, a bloody national uprising against Pakistan, backed by India, broke out in Bangladesh. On December 16, 1971, East Bengal proclaimed its independence from Pakistan, taking the name of Bangladesh (Bengali country). Mujibur Rahman was therefore invested with the office of prime minister and immediately launched a program of nationalization of the most important industries in the country. With the 1972 Constitution amended, in 1975 Bangladesh was transformed from a parliamentary republic into a presidential republic, a one-party one, and Mujibur Rahman was appointed president, assassinated in the same year following a military coup. General Zia Ur-Rahman was elected president in 1977, and that same year Bangladesh was transformed into an Islamic sectarian state.
According to aceinland, Aunt Ur-Rahman was also murdered in 1981, following another coup d’état, Abdus Sattar took over the leadership of the country, later dismissed in March 1982 by General Hossain Moḥammad Ershad. Elected president in 1983 and reconfirmed in office in 1986, Ershad remained in power until 1990, when following a popular uprising, losing military support, he was forced to resign. Once the constitutional government was restored, the multi-party legislative elections of February 1991 were won by the center-right coalition: Khaleda Zia, the widow of General Zia Ur-Rahman, was appointed Prime Minister and Abdur Rahman Biswas elected President of the Republic. The new government, supported at first also by the fundamentalists of the then dismissed in March 1982 by General Hossain Moḥammad Ershad. Elected president in 1983 and reconfirmed in office in 1986, Ershad remained in power until 1990, when following a popular uprising, losing military support, he was forced to resign. Once the constitutional government was restored, the multi-party legislative elections of February 1991 were won by the center-right coalition: Khaleda Zia, the widow of General Zia Ur-Rahman, was appointed Prime Minister and Abdur Rahman Biswas elected President of the Republic. The new government, supported at first also by the fundamentalists of the then dismissed in March 1982 by General Hossain Moḥammad Ershad. Elected president in 1983 and reconfirmed in office in 1986, Ershad remained in power until 1990, when following a popular uprising, losing military support, he was forced to resign. Once the constitutional government was restored, the multi-party legislative elections of February 1991 were won by the center-right coalition: Khaleda Zia, the widow of General Zia Ur-Rahman, was appointed Prime Minister and Abdur Rahman Biswas elected President of the Republic. The new government, supported at first also by the fundamentalists of the he was forced to resign. Once the constitutional government was restored, the multi-party legislative elections of February 1991 were won by the center-right coalition: Khaleda Zia, the widow of General Zia Ur-Rahman, was appointed Prime Minister and Abdur Rahman Biswas elected President of the Republic.
The new government, supported at first also by the fundamentalists of the he was forced to resign. Once the constitutional government was restored, the multi-party legislative elections of February 1991 were won by the center-right coalition: Khaleda Zia, the widow of General Zia Ur-Rahman, was appointed Prime Minister and Abdur Rahman Biswas elected President of the Republic. The new government, supported at first also by the fundamentalists of the Jamaat-e-Islami, however, soon met the firm opposition of the Awami League, headed by Hasina Wajed, daughter of Mujibur Rahman. In this way, a tough standoff between the two women was determined, with strikes, bloody demonstrations, up to the direct boycott of the Parliament deserted by opposition deputies (1994), demanding early elections. In the clash between the two “strong women” of Bangladesh, in addition to political differences, personal aspects also came into play: Hasina Wajed, in fact, made no secret of having engaged in the battle also in order to avenge the murder of her father. At the end of 1995 Khaleda Zia seemed to take up the challenge also due to the state of prostration of the country, crossed by numerous demonstrations of violence, which they tried to remedy by calling new elections. The elections of June 1996 assigned the majority relative to the Awami League and Hasina Wajed was appointed prime minister, while a member of the same party, Shahabuddin Ahmed, was elected to the presidency of the Republic. Despite the continuous boycott of Parliament by the opposition, led by Khaleda Zia, Prime Minister Hasina Wajed managed to achieve two very important results during his government: a pacification agreement with the Shanti Bahini rebels, with whom in 1997 it put an end to the civil war fought since 1973 in the southeastern region of the country; an agreement with India, after twenty years of fruitless negotiations on the waters of the Ganges to solve the serious problems of drought in some of the poorest areas in the north of the country. In a climate of increasing political tension, the legislative elections of October 2001, however, brought Khaleda Zia’s Nationalist Party (BNP) back to the government, which obtained the majority of seats in Parliament. In 2002, the ruling coalition, in the absence of an opposition candidate, appointed Iajuddin Ahmed as president. In 2004, an attack, which targeted Hasina Wajed, killed 10 people and wounded about 200. In January 2007, the president decided to postpone the elections, declared a state of emergency and resigned from the post of premier, which was conferred on Fazlul Haq, for a transition executive, supported by the military. In 2008, the anti-corruption policy desired by the new government led to the arrest of many politicians.
