It was the third coup at the Dhaka Cantonment in that eventful year of 1975; three within three months and two within a week. 

The first one, initiated by a group of disgruntled army officers, led to the ghastly assassination of the country’s founding president Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members on 15 August. The second one, led by Chief of General Staff Brig Gen Khaled Mosharraf and some other senior officers, on 3 November challenged the authorities of self-declared president Khandaker Mushtaque Ahmed and the killers who were operating the country from the Bangabhaban. 

And the third one, orchestrated by Biplobi Sainik Sangstha, a clandestine revolutionary socialist group of sepoys influenced by Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), on 7 November aimed at ending the “power game” of officers and dignifying soldiers’ life by removing “discriminatory” rules and practices in the army.

With these three events, the Dhaka garrison witnessed the biggest bloodshed since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971. Detained in his house after the second coup, Chief of Staff Maj Gen Ziaur Rahman was freed following the third one.

This paved his way to bring many long-lasting changes in the consequent three years, leaving an ineradicable mark on history. But it was impossible if Zia wouldn’t have dealt with the post-coup situation, taking into account the pressing concerns of the time.

Since his release, Zia was monitoring everything from the Second Field Artillery unit. Col (retd) Abu Taher, founding vice-president of JSD and a key organiser of its armed wing Ganobahini, was repeatedly asking him to go to the radio station but officers present there told Zia to not step out of the cantonment. Zia sent an audio tape of his address to the radio office where he credited the army for the coup without mentioning anything about the role of Gano Bahini or Biplobi Sainik Sangstha.

He also announced that he would take charge as the chief martial law administrator at the request of the army. Consequently, a perception emerged among the people that it was entirely Ziaur Rahman’s coup [“Ek General-er Nirab Shakhya: Swadhinotar Prothom Dashak”, Maj Gen (retd) Moinul Hossain Chowdhury].

Furious, Taher stormed out of the office but came back the next morning, with a 12-point list of soldiers’ demands, including abolishment of appointing batmen for officers, speeding up promotion of soldiers and addressing their accommodation crisis. Zia listened in silence.
Meanwhile, uncertainty had gripped the whole garrison. Describing the situation of officers during that time, Lt Col (Retd) MA Hamid, PSC, writes in his “Tinti Sena Obbhutthan O Kichu Na Bala Katha” that officers were fleeing from their own sepoys. 

The armed sepoys who once freed Zia from house arrest were chasing and killing officers mercilessly. Chanting slogans “Sipahi sipahi bhai bhai, officerder rokto chai!” (Sepoy are brothers, we want blood of the officers), they killed at least 13 officers, including a lady doctor. 

Khaled Mosharraf and his associates Lt Col ATM Haider and Col Khondker Nazmul Huda, who took shelter at the headquarters of the 10 Bengal Regiment in the capital’s Agargaon, were killed on 7 November morning.

Soldiers also murdered the wife of Col Abu Osman Chowdhury, Commander of Sector 8 of the Liberation War [“Ekattorer Muktijuddho, Raktakto Madhya August O Sharajantramay November”, Col (Retd) Shafaat Jamil].

“There was no officer in any unit or even in the headquarters. While leaving the cantonment many officers gathered at the headquarters. Most of them were worried about the safety of their family members. Everyone was leaving the cantonment to flee. Sepoys were searching for many officers by name. It was not clear who was killing whom amid the chaos,” MA Hamid writes in “Tinti Sena Obbhutthan O Kichu Na Bala Katha”.

In fear of the sepoys, officers, including Lt Col MA Hamid, were bound to step outside the office taking off their rank badges.

In such a situation, sepoys arranged a meeting at the fourth Bengal Regiment Ground where Chief of Staff Zia addressed and requested sepoys to surrender the arms. But sepoys disregarded his call.

Zia knew he needed the help of the officers to deal with this crisis. But there were hardly 30 to 40 officers in the cantonment. Zia sat with the junior commissioned officers (JCOs) and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and asked them to convince soldiers to surrender arms.
Apart from moving one corner to another and talking to the sepoys throughout the next couple of days, he addressed them again at the headquarters. 

“But failing to calm them, at one point he took off his army belt and threw it to the ground, saying, ‘If so many demands keep coming, I no longer wish to remain the army chief’,” Maj Gen (retd) Moinul Hossain Chowdhury mentions in “Ek General-er Nirab Shakhya: Swadhinotar Prothom Dashak”.

After that, the situation looked up a bit. The soldiers were assured that their demands would be met gradually.

In the meantime, Khaled Mosharraf was buried at the cantonment on 9 November. Brig Mir Shawkat Ali was appointed as acting chief of general staff until Maj Gen Abul Manzur took the charge replacing him.

Zia also brought soldiers of 12 East Bengal Regiment from Jashore Cantonment and entitled their company commando to secure the army headquarters [“Bangladesh: Raktakto Audhaya 1975-81”, Brig Gen (Retd) M Shakhawat Hussain]. 

The soldiers returned to the barracks and handed over the looted weapons. The revolutionary sepoys fled. According to Lt Col MA Hamid, by 14–15 November, the situation at Dhaka Cantonment had come almost completely under control.

Later, many officers and soldiers involved in these crimes were suspended and transferred outside Dhaka. Besides, the officers and soldiers “engaged with crimes during the coups” were brought under court martial.

Tried by a military tribunal within Dhaka Central Jail, Taher was executed on 21 July 1976 on charges of high treason.

The Signal Regiment was sent outside Dhaka. The Bengal Lancers unit, which had tanks under its command, was sent from Dhaka to Bogura. Punitive measures were taken against several units, including the artillery.

In the following months, Zia, riding on his image created through his historic role (proclamation of independence), arranged numerous meetings to develop a direct contact with both officers and sepoys to solidify his position and power.  

Antithetical to his composed nature, he used his strength to crush opposition while dealing with 18 more mutinies, both large and small, at various cantonments including Dhaka, Chattogram, Cumilla, Jashore, Rangpur, Syedpur, and Bogura, in the subsequent years.