Gen. H. M. Ershad, the military dictator of Bangladesh for most of the 1980s, died on Sunday in Dhaka, the nation’s capital. His younger brother, G. M. Quader, confirmed the death, in a military hospital. General Ershad assumed power as military chief in 1982 and declared himself president the next year. Hussain Muhammad Ershad was born on Feb. 1, 1930, in the Coochbehar district of West Bengal state in India, which was under British rule at the time. His parents migrated to what is now Bangladesh but was then part of Pakistan in 1948, after the end of British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent.

Source: New York Times July 15, 2019 22:18 UTC