1985 in Bangladesh explained

The year 1985 was the 14th year after the independence of Bangladesh. It was also the fourth year of the Government of Hussain Muhammad Ershad.

Incumbents

• President: Hussain Muhammad Ershad
• Prime Minister: Ataur Rahman Khan
• Chief Justice: F.K.M. Munim

Demography

Population, total

90,764,180
Population density (per km^2)	697.3
Population growth (annual %)	2.6%
Male to Female Ratio (every 100 Female)	106.8
Urban population (% of total)	17.5%
Birth rate, crude (per 1,000 people)	39.7
Death rate, crude (per 1,000 people)	12.5
Mortality rate, under 5 (per 1,000 live births)	174
Life expectancy at birth, total (years)	55.2
Fertility rate, total (births per woman)	5.5

Economy

National Income

	Current US$	Current BDT	% of GDP
GDP	$22.3 billion	BDT579.2 billion
GDP growth (annual %)	3.3%
GDP per capita	$245.5	BDT6,382
Agriculture, value added	$7.4 billion	BDT191.2 billion	33.0%
Industry, value added	$4.5 billion	BDT117.7 billion	20.3%
Services, etc., value added	$9.9 billion	BDT257.3 billion	44.4%
Balance of Payment
	Current US$	Current BDT	% of GDP
Current account balance	style="text-align: right;"	-$455.2 million		style="text-align: right;"	-2.0%
Imports of goods and services	$2,764.4 million	BDT74.4 billion	12.8%
Exports of goods and services	$1,237.3 million	BDT31.2 billion	5.4%
Foreign direct investment, net inflows	style="text-align: right;"	-$6.7 million		0.0%
Personal remittances, received	$502.5 million		2.3%
Total reserves (includes gold) at year end	$356.2 million
Total reserves in months of imports	1.5

Note: For the year 1985 average official exchange rate for BDT was 27.99 per US$.

Events

• 13 February – Raufun Basunia, Joint Secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League, and the General Secretary of its University of Dhaka branch was shot dead during a clash between Chhatra Sangram Parishad and Chhatra Samaj, the ruling Jatiyo Party backed student wing in front of Mohsin Hall at University of Dhaka.^{[1] [2]}
• 21 March – A referendum on military rule was held in order to confirm the military rule of Hussain Mohammed Ershad. The referendum asked voters "Do you support the policies of President Ershad, and do you want him to continue to run this administration until a civilian government is formed through elections?" The result saw 94.5% vote in favour, with a turnout of 72.2%.^[3] The opposition organised a general strike on the day of the referendum, and alleged that the results were fraudulent.
• 16 May  - Voters turn out for the first of two phases of local government elections, the inaugural elections at the new upazila (sub-district) level.^[4]
• 20 May  - The second phase of local government elections finishes filling 458 upazila council chairmanships from a field of 2,300 candidates.
• Heavy mortars were used in an exchange of fire between Bangladeshi and Indian forces on a disputed section of the border between the two nations.^[5]
• 22 November – The MOU between Bangladesh and India regarding Ganges water sharing was extended for three years.^[6]
• 8 December – The first SAARC summit was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 6–8 December 1985 and was attended by the government representative and president of Bangladesh, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the kings of Bhutan and Nepal, and the prime minister of India.^[7] They signed the SAARC Charter on 8 December 1985, thereby establishing the regional association, and established study groups on the problems of terrorism and drug trafficking, as well as planning a ministerial-level meeting about GATT, and a ministerial-level conference on increasing the participation of women at the regional level.^[7] The summit also agreed to establish a SAARC secretariat and adopted an official SAARC emblem.^[7]

Awards and recognitions

International Recognition

• Zafrullah Chowdhury, the founder of Gonoshasthaya Kendra, was awarded Ramon Magsaysay Award.^[8]

Independence Day Award

• Muhammad Ataul Gani Osmani was awarded posthumously for his contribution to social welfare.

Ekushey Padak

1. Abu Zafar Obaidullah (literature)
2. Gazi Shamsur Rahman (literature)
3. Abdullah Al-Muti (science)
4. Govinda Chandra Dev (education)
5. Mohammad Abdul Jabbar (education)
6. Kalim Sharafi (music)
7. Abed Hossain Khan (music)
8. Syed Jahangir (fine arts)

Sports

• South Asian (Federation) Games:
  • Bangladesh hosted the second South Asian Federation Games held in Dhaka from 20–26 December. With 9 golds, 17 silvers and 38 bronzes Bangladesh ended the tournament at the third position in overall points table.^[9]
• Domestic football:
  • Abahani KC won Dhaka League title while Brothers Union came out runner-up.^[10]
  • Abahani KC also won Bangladesh Federation Cup title.^[11]

Births

• 8 April – Masuma Rahman Nabila, actor
• 1 November – Enamul Haque, footballer

Deaths

• 15 March – Aroj Ali Matubbar, author (b. 1900)
• 10 July – Ahsan Habib, poet (b. 1917)
• 17 July – Abdul Hady Talukdar, academician (b. 1905)
• 5 October – Abdus Sattar, former president (b. 1906)
• 30 October – Fazle Lohani, journalist and TV host (b. 1929)
• 4 December – Bijoy Sarkar, baul singer (b. 1903)

See also

• 1980s in Bangladesh
• Timeline of Bangladeshi history

Notes and References

1. News: Death anniversary of Basunia observed . bdnews24.com . 12 February 2006 . 2 August 2015.
2. News: 75 DU deaths since '71, none prosecuted . bdnews24.com . 3 February 2010 . 2 August 2015.
3. Book: Dieter Nohlen . Dieter Nohlen . Florian Grotz . Christof Hartmann . 2001 . Elections in Asia: A data handbook . I . 534 . 0-19-924958-X.
4. Bertocci . Peter J. . Bangladesh in 1985: Resolute against the Storms . Asian Survey . February 1986 . 26 . 2 . 229–230 . 10.2307/2644458 . 2644458.
5. News: World: South Asia Third day of India Bangladesh clashes . BBC News . 23 August 1999.
6. Book: Haq, Enamul . 2012 . Ganges Water Sharing . http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Ganges_Water_Sharing . Islam . Sirajul . Sirajul Islam . Jamal . Ahmed A. . Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh . Second . Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
7. Web site: Dhaka Declaration. PDF. SAARC Secretariat. 16 October 2010. 7 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160607131812/http://www.saarc-sec.org/userfiles/01-Dhaka-1stSummit1985.pdf. dead.
8. Web site: Awardees who worked in Bangladesh. Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation. 4 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180701004536/http://rmaward.asia/awardees/country/bangladesh/. 1 July 2018. dead.
9. Web site: South Asian (Federation) Games. Athletics Weekly. 31 July 2010.
10. Web site: List of Champions. Atsushi Fujioka for Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 16 October 2018.
11. Web site: Bangladesh – List of Cup Winners. Ian King, Hans Schöggl and Erlan Manaschev for Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 30 October 2018.