President Ziaur Rahman: Legendary Leader of Bangladesh

President Ziaur Rahman holds a unique distinction to make the historic declaration of

the Independence of Bangladesh. He then led the glorious liberation war to victory in

1971, and then became the maker of modern Bangladesh in 1975-1981. He succeeded

where Sheikh Mujibur Rahman failed, both as a political leader and as an administrator.

In view of his crucial role at the time of the creation of Bangladesh and thereafter,

President Zia was perhaps the most phenomenally popular figure of his country. His short

life of forty-five years was like an intense flare of incandescent light. Even after fortytwo

years since his assassination by some deviant army officers, with Indian instigation

and insinuation, Zia remains irreplaceable; his void unfillable. His character, nobility

and dignity could perhaps be matched only by his wife, the great and glorious Begum

Khaleda Zia, who would later be a three-time Prime Minister.

Both being the most famed and famous, both are/were almost equally legendary not

only in their amazing and enormous popularity but also in their achievements and

their sacrifice for the cause of the nation. Beside the devilish and dastardly actions of

torture and terror by Sheikh Hasina and her corrupt-to-the-core fascist regime, Zia's and

Begum Zia's accomplishments, together with their sufferings, stand out as bright as the

solar shine of the day. In contrast with Hasina's politics of destruction, oppression and

repression, Zia's and Begum Zia's patriotic deeds and ideals continue to remain in the

limelight as William Blake's tiger "burning bright/In the forests of the night."

President Zia saved Bangladesh at least twice. He rescued the nation by making the

clarion call for the independence of Bangladesh on 26 March 1971, when the political

leadership failed to respond to the trust the people reposed on them. The declaration

was followed by Zia's role as an effective organizer of war and a liberation war hero.

The second time was in early November 1975, when the nation plunged into chaos and

confusion by the India-instigated conspiracy crushed by the army-people uprising. A

group of patriotic soldiers rescued General Zia from custody and restored his authority.

He rose to the occasion to save the nation during this crisis time.

Zia's stewardship and statesmanship grew through the years of his rule and professional

career. He was a successful sector commander, deputy chief of the army, chief of the

army, and, finally, the most successful president with a track record of unprecedented

contributions. He was a "large, sweet soul" and "the sweetest, wisest soul of all [our]

days and lands," as President Abraham Lincoln was to American poet Walt Whitman.

Like Lincoln, who was also assassinated at the age of 56, following a civil war, Zia also

was, "The great star early droop'd. O powerful western fallen star!"

This book is a great collection of writings about a great President by a number of notable

authors and scholars, who place President Zia highly in the annals of the country's

formation and political development. It is an effort to contribute to the nationalist

narrative with accuracy and objectivity. Highly readable and worth reading, the volume

is a landmark publication in the political history of Bangladesh that all concerned will

find interesting and informative.