[2] He seized power as head of the army during a bloodless coup against President Abdus Sattar on 24 March 1982 (by imposing martial law and suspending the Constitution).

[b] Ershad served in the Presidential office until 1990, when he was forced to resign following a popular pro-democracy mass uprising led by Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina.

In 1989, Ershad pushed parliament to make Islam the state religion, in a sharp departure from Bangladesh's original secular constitution.

[16] In 1973, he and the others were repatriated to the new nation of Bangladesh in accordance with the Simla Agreement between India's Indira Gandhi and Pakistan's Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

The different experiences during the war of the professional and paramilitary officers and soldiers in Bangladesh, together with the country's diverse cultures and Muslim majority, created instabilities in the years after independence.

[2] Viewed as a professional officer and having a talent for Bengali speech writing, Ershad soon became the closest politico-military counsellor of Ziaur Rahman.

[33] Ershad played a key role during the founding summit of the countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in 1985, which was held in Dhaka.

[48] The protest started against a new law that would allow the military to have role in local development which was opposed by the leader of the opposition Sheikh Hasina.

[51] On 28 November, he declared a state of emergency which was followed by arrest of opposition leaders including Mirza Golam Hafiz and Zillur Rahman.

[52] On 6 December 1987, Ershad dissolved the parliament in the midst of an opposition campaign calling for his and his government's resignation, and a nationwide state of emergency, which had been declared on 27 November.

[56] Polling day was marked by violence and a boycott by the three leading opposition groups - the Awami League (an eight-party alliance) headed by Sheikh Hasina Wazed, the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami and the right-wing BNP, all of which alleged electoral fraud.

[63] The effective end of the Cold War unleashed democratic forces and dried up international support for military rule in Bangladesh.

[67][68] In a bid to subdue the opposition, Ershad attempted to declare martial law, but Chief of the Army Staff Lieutenant General Nuruddin Khan refused to support him.

[71][72] Ershad appointed Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed to form an acceptable neutral caretaker government and prepare for democratic elections.

Shahabuddin immediately placed Ershad under arrest and detained him, an action declared illegal in 1998 in a case appealed to the nation's Supreme Court.

[73] In 1996, the newly elected government of the Awami League selected Shahabuddin as the President and appointed Lt Gen Nuruddin Khan as the Energy Minister.

These arose in part because of the division in the Army between those who had participated in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, and those who had been interned or voluntarily stayed in West Pakistan during the conflict.

As those men were repatriated and the Armed Forces needed their participation, they were welcomed back, but complained of discrimination in favour of the freedom fighters.

Ershad accelerated the privatisation of state owned enterprises which had begun in 1975 and encouraged private and foreign investment through his 'New Industrial Policy'.

[78] The boom in exports in the garment industry also continued under his rule, employing large numbers of women albeit in harsh conditions.

[79]The Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge Authority (JMBA) was set up by an ordinance promulgated by the then President Ershad on 3 July 1985 to implement the project.

[80][81] On 15 May 2011, Supreme Court declared the military rule of Ershad illegal in a verdict that also said the actions taken by his regime will remain effective until their fate is decided by parliament.

[83] Ershad lost his membership in parliament owing to his conviction on charges of corruption when his relations with the ruling Awami League subsequently deteriorated.

[91][92] On 1 March 1998, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh ruled that President Ershad's original arrest in 1990 by the caretaker government, led by Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, was illegal.

When his relations with the ruling Awami League subsequently deteriorated as he joined hands with the other main opposition BNP of Khaleda Zia.

It involved two charges – abuse of power in allotting land in Dhaka, which took place after Ershad colluded with M. M. Rahmat Ullah; and possessing unaccounted money.

[99] On 19 November 2008, Jatiya Party and Awami League agreed to contest the elections jointly under the Caretaker Government to be held on 29 December 2008.

According to Bangladesh electoral laws, a person is allowed to contest from three places, but can retain only one seat and two are to have by-elections after formation of government.

[117] In 1986, Britain's The Observer newspaper quoted a woman named Marieum Mumtaz as saying she had secretly married Ershad on 14 August 1982, after he forced her to divorce banker Chowdhury Badruddin.

[119] In 1990, Dainik Bangla, a government-owned daily, claimed Ershad and Zeenat Mosharraf used to meet at a guest house owned by the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation.