Ershad passes away
President, PM, BNP, parties condole death of JP chief
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, Dhaka
Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who was ousted from power in 1990 after his nine years of autocratic rule, died at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in the capital yesterday morning. He was 89. HM Ershad, also the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and a six-time MP, breathed his last at 7:45am at the CMH. The JP chief will be laid to rest at the capitals Banani Army graveyard tomorrow after four funeral prayers.
Ershads Qulkhwani will be held on Wednesday at Gulshans Azad mosque. Meanwhile, the President, the Prime Minister, the Jatiya Sangsad Speaker, several ministers and political parties, including the BNP, expressed their profound shock and sorrow through separate messages at the death of JP chairman HM Ershad.
Ershads wife Raushon, younger brother GM Quader, JPs presidium members and party activists rushed to the CMH after hearing the death of their party chief. They burst into tears. A pall of gloom loomed large over the hospital.
JP secretary-general Moshiur Rahman Ranga briefed the media on Ershads funeral prayers or the namaz-e-janaza, hours after the 89-year-old deposed military dictators death.
The first namaz-e-janaza for Ershad was held at the Army Central Mosque after Zohr prayers yesterday. Later, his mortal remains were kept at the CMH mortuary for the night.
Ershads second namaz-e-janaza will be held at South Plaza of the parliamentary building at 10am today. Later, the body will be taken to the partys central office at Kakrail for the party leaders and activists for people to pay tribute from noon to 3pm.
A third namaz-e-janaza will be held at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque after Asr prayers on the same day.
However, Ershads body will be flown to
his hometown Rangpur by helicopter on tomorrow morning. The fourth namaz-e-janaza will be held at 10:30am at the Rangpur Eidgah ground. He will be brought back to Dhaka for burial after Zohr prayers.
The former military ruler had been shuttling between his home and hospital for the last few months following the deterioration of his health condition.
Ershad was admitted to the CMH on June 26 as he had been suffering from various old-age complications, including low haemoglobin, kidney and liver problems, high bilirubin and serious knee pain.
The army officerturned politician became inactive in politics and was hardly seen in any public programme since mid-November last year. Ershads declining health condition came into the spotlight as he was admitted to the CMH on November 27 last year, before the national elections.
On December 10, he went to Singapore for treatment and returned home on December 26, four days before the general elections. Ershad went to Singapore again on January 20 for treatment and returned home on February 4.
Jatiya Party, which joined the 11th parliamentary elections as the key partner of the Awami League-led Grand Alliance, bagged 22 seats and Ershad was elected MP from Rangpur-3 constituency.
Condolences
President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury mourned Ershads death and prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul. In a condolence message, the president prayed for his departed soul and expressed his deep sympathy to the bereaved family members.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed her deep shock and sorrow on the death of the Opposition leader Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad, said the prime ministers press wing in a statement.
Sheikh Hasina recalled the constructive role Ershad played as the chief of the Opposition in the Parliament, the statement said.
BNP secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir expressed deep shock at the death of Jatiya Party chairman and former army chief HM Ershad. In a condolence message yesterday, Mirza Fakhrul prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul of Ershad and conveyed sympathy to members of his bereaved family.
In separate condolence messages, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, Planning Minister MA Mannan and Environment Minister Md Shahab Uddin prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family.
Besides, Shipping State Minister Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, Disaster Management And Relief State Minister Dr Enamur Rahman and Labour And Employment State Minister Begum Monnujan Sufian also expressed profound shock at the death of Ershad and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family. They also prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul.
Bidisha Siddique, the former wife of Ershad, bid an emotional farewell to her husband following his death in a military hospital. She expressed her deep shock over his death in a Facebook post from Ajmer Sharif in India. She put a black badge on her profile picture by removing the previous photo of Ershad and their son Eric.
Well no longer meet in this life. You left the world while I came to Ajmer Sharif. It seems more peaceful for you than suffering from so much pain. We may meet in another world with no politics, Bidisha wrote. The wedding of military ruler Ershad with Bidisha, the daughter of poet and professor Abu Bakar Siddique, was the most-discussed subject in Bangladesh over one-and-a-half decades ago. The couple has a son, Eric Ershad.
Spouses and children
The former military dictator, who seized power in the 1980s and remained in office for nine years, married his first wife Raushon Ershad in 1956. But there are rumours of him being involved in another marriage prior to this.
In 1983, when Ershad was the chief martial law administrator, a formal announcement was made about the birth of his son Shad Ershad. That was mired in a controversy. Shad ran into legal complications at a young age and ended up getting arrested. After his time in Malaysia, Shad currently lives in Dhaka and is known as a businessman. There were rumours of him representing Kurigram-2 constituency during the general elections.
Ershads other son, Eric Ershad, was born from his relationship with his second wife Bidisha. The couple divorced in 2005 amid a political drama and Ershad was granted the custody of Eric by a court.
Eric is currently 18 years old. He used to live with his father in Baridharas President Park. Eric, a special child, is known to possess expertise in music.
Ershads close associates have said Eric was his favourite son.
The former presidents adopted son Arman Ershad, 25, lives in Ershads Baridhara President Park.
His only foster daughter, 35-year-old Jebin, is now married and lives in London.
Successor
Ershads wife Raushon Ershad, who had been maintaining a distance with her husband since she was unhappy as he made GM Quader Jatiya Party successor and donated most of his assets and property to a trust, had reportedly established her control over the party before the 10th parliamentary elections in 2013, taking a stance against Ershads decision to boycott the national elections, and subsequently she played the role of Leader of the Opposition in Parliament last time.
But Ershad regained his control over the party before the December 30 general elections and became the Leader of the Opposition in the current Parliament.
Ershad had also picked his brother to run the party in his absence on January 1 last and appointed Quader as the Deputy Leader of Opposition three days later.
In a similar bid on January 18, 2016, the Jatiya Party chairman tried to install Quader as his successor by making him the party co-chairman, which was foiled by leaders close to Raushon.
Amid strong resentment in the party, Ershad also removed Quader from the post of the Deputy Opposition Leader on March 23, nominating his wife Raushon to the post.
The maverick former military leader, known for frequently changing his decisions, reinstated his younger brother GM Quader as party chairman in his absence on April 6. A day after nominating Quader his party successor, the Jatiya Party chief donated his all assets and wealth to a trust, fuelling the family feud further.
Ershads cases
One case filed against Jatiya Party chairman Hussain Muhammad Ershad still remains on trial. The case involves the murder of Maj Gen Abul Manzoor 38 years ago. Ershad was acquitted in 40 other cases with his legal battle in 42 cases, said his chief legal counsel Sheikh Sirajul Islam.
The cases were filed against him on different charges after he was toppled through a mass movement in 1990, said his legal team. Ershad was convicted in three of those cases and he served out the sentence in one of them.
