Word: ershad
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...began as an angry demonstration by leftist students at the University of Dhaka against the military regime of Lieut. General H.M. Ershad, 53. Shouting "Deception!" and "Food first, language second, generals last!" hundreds of students last week marched into the streets of Dhaka in open defiance of martial law: When the students ignored orders to return to the campus, police shot tear-gas canisters into the crowd, which was armed with bricks, hockey sticks and knives. Throughout the day, as fighting spread to other Bangladesh cities, bands of students continued guerrilla-style raids, beating civilians, burning shops and attacking buses...
...major clash between the military government and the nation's student community had been brewing since Jan. 14, the day Ershad announced, in a burst of religious enthusiasm, that the Koran would be read this year at Feb. 21 ceremonies honoring Bengalis killed in 1951, when the fight for independence from Pakistan began. Said Ershad: "The ideals and principles of Islam will be reflected in every sphere of state and national life." Ershad's statement shocked the nation and especially incensed Bangladesh's non-Muslim minority (10% of the population), who saw it as a betrayal...
...when, the military would seize power again. Ever since he was elected last November, President Abdus Sattar, 76, a former justice of the supreme court, had resisted demands by the military for power in his government. Last week, in a predawn coup, Lieut. General Hossain Mohammed Ershad, 52, army chief of staff, ousted Sattar and in stalled himself as strongman. "I have no political ambition," the general asserted in a radio and television broadcast announcing the takeover. "My whole and sole aim is to re-establish democracy...
...picked candidate. But after the election, Sattar resisted the military's attempts to have an active role in government. In February he was forced by the generals to dissolve his Cabinet and name ministers more acceptable to the army. On the day before the takeover, Sattar again angered Ershad by swearing in a civilian as Vice President-a defiant move that led Ershad to seize power himself. "Sattar is an honorable man," the general said, "but he couldn't supply the leadership...