Tens of thousands attend funeral of slain Bangladesh student leader Sharif Osman Hadi
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Tens of thousands of people attending the funeral prayer in Dhaka for slain student leader Sharif Osman Hadi on Dec 20.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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DHAKA – Massive crowds gathered in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Dec 20 for the funeral of a slain student leader, held under tight security after two days of protests and violence.
Tens of thousands of people joined the funeral procession to pay their respects to Mr Sharif Osman Hadi, a key figure in the 2024 pro-democracy uprising who was set to contest the general election in February.
He was shot by masked gunmen last week while leaving a mosque in Dhaka, and died in a hospital in Singapore on Dec 18.
“You are in our hearts, and you will remain in the heart of all Bangladeshis as long as the country exists,” interim leader Muhammad Yunus said in an emotional speech in front of the Parliament building, where funeral prayers were held.
Police wearing body cameras were deployed in the area, and flags were flown at half mast to mark a day of state mourning.
Mr Hadi’s body was then buried at the central mosque of Dhaka University.
The 32-year-old was an outspoken critic of India, where Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has taken refuge since fleeing Dhaka in the wake of the 2024 uprising.
Mr Iqbal Hossain Saikot, a government employee who travelled to the capital to attend the funeral, told AFP that he believed Mr Hadi was killed because of his staunch opposition to India.
“The millions of Bangladeshi people who love the land and its sovereign territory” will carry on Mr Hadi’s legacy, said the 34-year-old.
Mr Hadi’s death has triggered unrest, with protesters across the South Asian nation demanding the arrest of those responsible.
Bangladeshi police said they had launched a manhunt for his killers but have yet to report progress.
As news of Mr Hadi’s death spread on Dec 18, people set fire to several buildings in Dhaka
Anarchy
Cultural institutions and the residence of a former minister were also attacked by rampaging mobs.
Fuelled in part by growing anti-India sentiments in the majority Muslim nation, the violence this week also saw a Hindu garment worker killed following allegations of blasphemy.
Dr Yunus said seven suspects had been arrested in connection with the killing of the worker, Mr Dipu Chandra Das, in the central district of Mymensingh on Dec 18.
Rights group Amnesty International on Dec 20 expressed alarm over Mr Das’ “lynching”, while urging Bangladesh’s interim government to carry out “prompt, thorough, independent and impartial” investigations into Mr Hadi’s killing and the violence that followed.
Political parties across the spectrum condemned the violence and expressed concern over public order and security in the lead-up to the elections – Bangladesh’s first polls since Hasina’s autocratic government was ousted.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party accused a “long-identified group” – a likely reference to Hasina’s Awami League party – of “trying to push the country towards anarchy”.
Awami League has been banned from contesting in the upcoming polls.
Mr Nahid Islam, convener of the National Citizen Party set up largely by students who took part in the 2024 uprising, slammed the government for failing to rein in rogue elements.
“There are elements within the government opposed to the mass uprising, and they are actively at play,” he said in a statement.
Ties between neighbours Bangladesh and India have deteriorated since the uprising, with Dhaka demanding New Delhi extradite Hasina, who has been sentenced to death in absentia
Hasina, 78, has denounced her trial and the verdict, calling it a “travesty of justice”, and vowed to continue serving her people.
At a protest on Dec 19, a 20-year-old student told AFP he believed Mr Hadi’s killers were also hiding in India. AFP
