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.