THE funeral of slain student leader Sharif Osman Hadi drew massive crowds to Bangladesh’s capital on Saturday, as authorities tightened security following two days of protests, arson and deadly unrest triggered by his killing.
AFP, on Sunday, reported that tens of thousands joined the funeral procession in Dhaka to pay their respects to Hadi, a central figure in the 2024 pro-democracy uprising and a prospective candidate in February’s general elections, the country’s first polls since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government.
Hadi, 32, was shot by masked gunmen last week as he was leaving a mosque in the capital. He later died in a hospital in Singapore on Thursday.
Funeral prayers were held in front of the parliament building, where interim leader Muhammad Yunus addressed the mourners in an emotional speech.
“You are in our hearts and you will remain in the heart of all Bangladeshis as long as the country exists,” Yunus said.
Police wearing body cameras were deployed across the area, while flags were flown at half-mast to mark a national day of mourning. After the prayers, Hadi’s body was buried at the central mosque of Dhaka University.
An outspoken critic of India, Hadi had accused New Delhi of interfering in Bangladesh’s internal affairs. India is currently sheltering the country’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled Dhaka following the uprising last year.
Iqbal Hossain Saikot, a government employee who travelled to the capital for the funeral, said he believed Hadi was killed because of his opposition to India.
“The millions of Bangladeshi people who love the land and its sovereign territory” would continue Hadi’s legacy, Saikot, 34, told AFP.
Hadi’s death has sparked widespread unrest, with demonstrations erupting across the country and protesters demanding the arrest of those responsible. Police say a manhunt is under way, though no breakthrough has yet been announced.
As news of his death spread on Thursday, mobs set fire to several buildings in Dhaka, including the offices of leading newspapers Prothom Alo and the Daily Star, which critics accuse of favouring India. Cultural institutions and the residence of a former minister were also attacked.
The violence, fuelled in part by rising anti-India sentiment in the majority-Muslim nation, also claimed the life of a Hindu garment worker, Dipu Chandra Das, who was killed following allegations of blasphemy in the central district of Mymensingh.
Yunus said seven suspects had been arrested in connection with Das’s killing. Amnesty International expressed alarm over what it described as Das’s “lynching” and urged the interim government to conduct “prompt, thorough, independent and impartial” investigations into both Hadi’s murder and the violence that followed.
Political parties across the spectrum condemned the unrest, warning of growing threats to public order as the election campaign approaches. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party accused a “long-identified group” — widely seen as a reference to Hasina’s Awami League — of “trying to push the country towards anarchy”.
The Awami League has been barred from contesting the upcoming polls.
Nahid Islam, convener of the National Citizen Party formed largely by student activists from the 2024 uprising, criticised the authorities for failing to contain what he described as destabilising forces.
“There are elements within the government opposed to the mass uprising, and they are actively at play,” he said in a statement.
Relations between Bangladesh and India have deteriorated sharply since the uprising, with Dhaka demanding Hasina’s extradition.
The former prime minister has been sentenced to death in absentia after being charged with crimes against humanity, a verdict she has rejected. Calling the trial a “travesty of justice”, Hasina, 78, has vowed to continue serving her people.
At a protest on Friday, a 20-year-old student told AFP he believed Hadi’s killers were also hiding in India. – December 21, 2025
