Bangladesh unrest: Youth leader Osman Hadi's funeral held in Dhaka amid tightened security
Bangladesh held the funeral of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi on Saturday, drawing large crowds to the capital under heightened security after his death sparked unrest across the country.
The country is observing a day of state mourning following the death of 32-year-old Hadi, a prominent figure in last year’s student-led protests that led to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government. Violent protests rocked Dhaka and major cities after the announcement of Hadi's death on Thursday, six days after gunmen shot him.
Interim government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, members of his advisory council and army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman attended the funeral of the spokesperson of Inqilab Mancha, held at the South Plaza of the parliament complex on Manik Mia Avenue.
Yunus spoke briefly ahead of the janaza, or funeral prayers, as politicians from former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami and the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) joined the mourners.
A candidate in the February 12 general election, Hadi was shot in the head by masked gunmen on December 12 while launching his campaign in Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area. He died in hospital in Singapore on Thursday.
According to television footage, the janaza was held after Hadi's body was brought after an autopsy at the state-run Suhrawardy Hospital. Hadi's elder brother Abu Bakar conducted the janaza and soon after the ritual, the body was quickly brought to Dhaka University campus under stringent security escorts for burial.
The grave was dug overnight beside the mausoleum of Bangladesh's national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. "In line with the earlier announcement, the body was not kept for public viewing and only select people were allowed to witness the burial," a police officer said.
Police allowed tens of thousands of people to join the funeral prayers and ahead of the ritual, who chanted slogans against India like "Delhi or Dhaka: Dhaka, Dhaka" and "brother Hadi's blood will not be allowed to go in vain."
Hadi particularly drew the political limelight launching his radical rightwing cultural group 'Inquilab Mancha' after last year's violent street campaign, dubbed July Uprising, led by Students Against Discrimination (SAD) campaign toppled then prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
Three days after Hasina fled to India, Yunus assumed the charge of the interim government as the SAD nominee on August 8.
Hadi was waging a campaign along with SAD and several rightwing groups demanding Hasina's return to be exposed to gallows after a special Bangladeshi tribunal sentenced her to death for her crackdown of the uprising using brutal force.
In Dhaka, a large number of law enforcement personnel have been deployed in and around the Parliament complex, and a tight security cordon has been imposed across the entire area, according to the Dhaka Tribune newspaper.
The government has also imposed a ban on flying drones in the area, and those wishing to attend the funeral were asked not to carry any bags or heavy objects, it said.
Various parts of the country were rocked Thursday night by attacks and vandalism, including stone-hurling at the Assistant Indian High Commissioner's residence in Chattogram, attacks on offices of leading newspapers, and vandalism at Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, soon after Yunus confirmed Hadi's death.
The interim government on Friday urged citizens to resist violence by "fringe elements" as Hadi's body arrived here from Singapore, amid fresh unrest in the capital.
Police said alleged radical right-wing activists set fire to the main office of the left-leaning Udichi Shilpigoshthi in the capital shortly after Hadi's body arrived in Dhaka from Singapore.