After its independence in 1971 , Bangladesh saw a series of military coups , beginning with the assassination of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on August 15 , 1975 , by a group of army officers , who installed Khondaker Mostaq Ahmed as president . The Khondaker Mostaq regime was overthrown on November 3 of the same year by pro-Mujib officers led by Brigadier Khaled Mosharraf and Colonel Shafat Jamil . A counter-coup on November 7 brought army chief Maj. Gen. Ziaur Rahman to power . In 1977 , Ziaur Rahman assumed the post of president and handed over the post of army chief to Lt. Gen. Hussain Muhammad Ershad . Zia formed the Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP ) and sought to reintroduce democracy in Bangladesh , but in 1981 he was assassinated by a group of army officers under Maj. Gen. Abul Manzoor . Although it was feared that the army would seize power again , army chief Ershad remained loyal to Ziaur Rahman 's civilian successor , the vice-president Justice Abdus Sattar and crushed the Manzoor-led coup attempt . Sattar became the presidential candidate of the BNP in the 1982 election , which he won
assassination of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
1982 Bangladesh coup d'état