Bangladesh, 1996 — military coup attempt

Event Summary

The dataset records an event coded as an attempted military coupi in Bangladesh on 20 May 1996 during the political turmoil surrounding the caretaker government that oversaw the transition between elections. In a tense interregnum, President Abdur Rahman Biswas, exercising authority during the caretaker period, clashed with the army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Abu Saleh Mohammad Nasim, over the dismissal of senior officers. When Biswas moved to sack officers he suspected of disloyalty and then dismissed Nasim himself, Nasim was accused of attempting to defy the president and mobilize troops, in what the government characterized as an attempted coup.

Biswas, however, asserted his constitutional authority, rallied loyal military commanders who refused to follow Nasim, and prevailed; Nasim was removed and the challenge collapsed. The episode passed without overturning the constitutional order, and the caretaker arrangement proceeded to fresh elections in June 1996 that brought Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League to power, continuing Bangladesh's turbulent but persistent democratic process after the long shadow of its earlier era of coups and military rule.