Hussain Muhammad Ershad

Hussain Muhammad Ershad was a Bangladeshi army chief who seized power in a bloodless coup in March 1982 and ruled as chief martial law administrator and then president until 1990. He founded the Jatiya Party, made Islam the state religion in 1988 and decentralised administration to the upazilas. Mass protests led by the parties of Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia forced his resignation in December 1990, and he was later imprisoned for corruption.