January: The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution (termed a constitutional coup) establishes a one party rule by the newly formed Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL); Mujib cites widespread corruption and failure of the goverment to address the needs of the poor. Bangladesh switched over to the presidential system of governance and Bangabandhu took over as President of the republic.
On June, all political parties were banned and were asked to join the newly formed BAKSAL. Many Newspapers were banned. All these triggered massive resentment against Mujib Government.
August 15: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is assassinated by a group of Army officers led by Col. Faruk Ahmed, Col. Rashid, and a Maj. Dalim; among the dead are Mujib’s wife, his three sons including the eight year old Shiekh Russel, and two daughters-in-law.
The only family members of Mujib who survive are his two daughters, Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana; they were abroad at the time with their respective families.
The coup was staged by army officers repatriated from Pakistan after the War. Because of their anti-communist leanings, some role of CIA (who were engaged in similar operations across the Latin America at the time) is widely suspected.
August-November:
Khondkar Moshtaque Ahmed becomes the President; the four key figures from the Mujibnagar Government, who had sidelined Moshtaque for his suspected subversive activities in Calcutta, West Bengal during the War, are brutally murdered in Dhaka Central Jail. Moshtaque’s first (and last) major directive is to design a National Costume (for men only, apparently) that includes his favorite Islamic cap.
The lower ranks in the army stage a coup; Col. Taher quells the uprising and rescues Ziaur Rahman, now a Maj. Gen.; Zia later assumes full control and declares Martial Law.
Col. Abu Taher, one of the 11 Sector Commanders and a valiant Freedom Fighter who had lost a leg in action, is tried behind closed doors as a “conspirator” in the November 7 “Sipoy Mutiny” and hanged under Zia’s directives.