Today is January 11. On this day in 2007, the so-called One Eleven appeared. A state of emergency was imposed in the country on January 11, 2007 due to the political situation arising from the one-sided parliamentary elections of the BNP-Jamaat coalition government. Later, a military-controlled ‘Interim Government’ was formed under the guise of a caretaker government. Later it was termed as ‘One Eleven’ or ‘1/11’ by then Army Chief Moin U Ahmed.
What happened that day? The day was Thursday. Throughout the day there were many rumours, rumours. The overall situation was at a standstill. In this situation, Awami League presidium members Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Salim and Kazi Zafar Ullah and General Secretary Abdul Jalil joined a meeting held at the residence of the Canadian High Commissioner at around 4 pm. Among the diplomats in that meeting were the then US Ambassador Patricia A. Butenis, British High Commissioner Anwar Chowdhury, Australian High Commissioner Douglas Foskett, Japanese Ambassador Inoue Masayeki, Chief Ambassador of the European Commission (EC) delegation. Stephan Froin and UN Resident Coordinator Renata Dezalien. Awami League leaders came out after the meeting at 5:30 pm. They refused to tell reporters anything about the content of the discussion. After leaving the Canadian High Commissioner’s residence, the Awami League leaders went directly to party president Sheikh Hasina’s Dhanmondi Sudhasdan residence.
Half an hour after the Awami League leaders left, a BNP delegation sat in a meeting with diplomats at the Canadian High Commissioner’s residence at around 5:30 pm. It was led by the then Secretary General of BNP Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan. After the meeting, they did not open their mouths. They went straight to Gulshan’s Hawa Bhaban. There they met with party chief Khaleda Zia. Earlier, British High Commissioner Anwar Chowdhury held a meeting with Jatiya Party (Japa) Chairman HM Ershad at his Baridhara residence from 12:15 to 1:30.
Before the meeting of Awami League and BNP with the diplomats, then Chief Adviser and President Yazuddin Ahmed held a meeting with the law and order advisory committee at 12 noon. In addition to the members of the committee, the heads of all law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies were present. Immediately after this meeting, President Yazuddin held a meeting with the chiefs of the three forces at Bangabhaban. On the other hand, the pre-scheduled meeting of the advisory council at 4:30 pm was cancelled. Almost all the advisers except one or two went to Bangabhaban and returned with the news of cancellation of the meeting.
After the meeting at Banga Bhavan, the then army chief Moin U Ahmed held a meeting with the then chief of the Air Force, Chief of the Navy, Inspector General of Police, RAB, BDR and all the heads of law enforcement and intelligence agencies at the army headquarters.
At 8:30 pm the advisors were again called to Bangabhaban. Advisers are informed about the situation that arises. At this time all the advisers were requested to resign. After that, President Yazuddin stepped down from the post of Chief Advisor. At the same time the advisers also resigned. Later, Dr. was appointed as the chief advisor of the caretaker government. Fakhruddin Ahmad. He formed a new advisory council.
In the midst of these dramatic events and tense tension-concern, a notification of the President’s office said in the evening, “The security and economic life of the people is endangered and threatened due to internal disturbances. Yazuddin Ahmed issued a state of emergency in the country under the powers given in Article 141 of the Constitution. “The state of emergency will come into effect from Thursday evening,” the notification said. At the same time curfew was announced to be in force in all metropolitan and district cities including Dhaka from 11 pm to 5 am.
Then the then President Yazuddin Ahmed addressed the nation at 11:30 pm amid various concerns. In his speech, he said, after taking two responsibilities at the same time, controversy started around him. In this situation, he has decided to resign from the post of Chief Advisor to the Caretaker Government to pave the way for an acceptable election with the participation of all political parties. In the night, the media was asked to refrain from broadcasting political news and news critical of the government in a verbal directive from the government’s information department. News and talk shows on TV channels were shut down immediately.
