Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated on May 30, 1981 during an attempted uprising.
Paris, France:
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s dramatic flight from Bangladesh in a helicopter on Monday under pressure from protesters and the military is far from a first in the South Asian country.
Since independence half a century ago, many of the country’s leaders have been forced to flee or have had their terms in office cut short by violent deaths.
AFP looks back at five key points in Bangladesh’s turbulent history.
1975: assassinations and coups abound
Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, emerged as a new nation in 1971 after a brutal war involving India.
Independence hero Sheikh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became the country’s first prime minister before introducing a one-party system and taking office as president in January 1975.
Within a year, he was murdered by a group of soldiers on August 15, along with his wife and three sons. Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad then took power, with the support of part of the army.
Ahmad’s tenure was short-lived. He was overthrown in a coup instigated by Army Chief of Staff Khaled Mosharraf on November 3, who was in turn assassinated by rival mutineers.
After a series of further coups and counter-coups, General Ziaur Rahman took power on November 7.
1981-1983: Bloody rebellion, bloodless coup
After less than six years in power, Rahman was assassinated on May 30, 1981 during an attempted uprising.
His vice president Abdus Sattar took over as interim president, with the support of General Hussain Muhammad Ershad.
But Ershad turned on Sattar within a year and ousted him in a bloodless coup on March 24, 1982.
Immediately after taking over, he imposed martial law and installed Ahsanuddin Chowdhury as president.
Ershad subsequently declared himself head of state on December 11, 1983. Chowdhury, whose position was honorary, went on to lead a political party loyal to the general.
1990: Ershad resigns after protests
After a wave of protests calling for democracy in Bangladesh, Ershad resigned as president on December 6, 1990.
He was subsequently arrested and jailed on December 12 after being convicted of corruption.
Justice Minister Shahabuddin Ahmed took over as interim leader until elections could be held the following year.
Ershad would eventually be released in January 1997.
1991: First free elections
The country’s first free elections were held in early 1991, with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) emerging as the clear winner.
Khaleda Zia, the widow of General Ziaur Rahman, became the first female Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
She was succeeded by her archrival Sheikh Hasina, daughter of the country’s founding father Mujibur Rahman, after Hasina’s Awami League defeated the BNP at the ballot box in 1996.
The BNP returned to power in 2001, with Zia becoming Prime Minister again, completing her term in October 2006.
2007: Purge of anti-corruption
In 2007, President Iajuddin Ahmed, with the support of the military, declared a state of emergency following anti-government demonstrations.
A military-led transitional government subsequently launched an anti-corruption purge, with both Hasina and Zia jailed on corruption charges before being released in 2008.
After her party’s victory in the December 2008 polls, Hasina became prime minister again.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)