Bangladesh on Saturday held the funeral of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi amid extra-tight security in the capital, as his death continued to fuel unrest across the country.
The 32-year-old spokesperson of the radical right-wing platform Inqilab Mancha was laid to rest beside the grave of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam near the Dhaka University mosque.
Soon after the burial, his organisation issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the interim government, demanding “visible progress” in the arrest of those responsible for his killing.
“Unless the government responds regarding the arrest of Sharif Osman Hadi's killers by 5:15 pm tomorrow, we will resume our sit-in agitation,” the organisation’s Member Secretary Abdullah Al Jaber said while addressing a protest rally at Shahbagh.
After nearly three hours of demonstrations, protesters vacated the area, following which traffic in the surrounding localities gradually returned to normal.
Interim government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, members of his advisory council and Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman attended Hadi’s janaza, which was held at the South Plaza of the Parliament complex at Manik Mia Avenue.
Yunus spoke briefly ahead of the funeral prayers, which were also attended by politicians representing former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jamaat-e-Islami and the student-led National Citizen Party.
The country observed a day of state mourning.
Later on Saturday, Yunus said in a post on X that law enforcement agencies had arrested 10 individuals in connection with the murder of Dipu Chandra Das in Baluka, Mymensingh.
Das, a Hindu man, was lynched to death and his body was set on fire over alleged blasphemy, on Thursday.
Among those arrested, seven were apprehended by the Rapid Action Battalion and three by the police.
Those arrested by RAB were identified as Md. Limon Sarkar (19), Md. Tarek Hossain (19), Md. Manik Mia (20), Ershad Ali (39), Nijum Uddin (20), Alomgir Hossain (38) and Md. Miraj Hossain Akon (46).
The police arrested Md. Azmol Hasan Sagir (26), Md. Shahin Mia (19) and Md. Nazmul.
RAB and police conducted operations in various locations to arrest the accused, Yunus said.
According to television footage, the janaza was held after Hadi’s body was brought from the state-run Suhrawardy Hospital following an autopsy.
His elder brother Abu Bakar conducted the funeral prayers, after which the body was swiftly taken to the Dhaka University campus for burial under stringent security.
“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. Ahead of the ritual, some mourners chanted anti-India slogans such as “Delhi or Dhaka - Dhaka, Dhaka” and “brother Hadi’s blood will not be allowed to go in vain.”
Hadi was a prominent leader of the student-led protests last year that led to the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government and was a candidate for the 12 February general elections.
He was shot in the head by masked gunmen on 12 December during an election campaign in central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area and died while undergoing treatment in Singapore on Thursday.
Violent protests erupted in Dhaka and other major cities after Yunus confirmed Hadi’s death on Thursday.
Several areas witnessed attacks and vandalism, including stone-hurling at the residence of the Assistant Indian High Commissioner in Chattogram, attacks on the offices of leading newspapers Daily Star and Prothom Alo, and vandalism at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum.
The interim government on Friday urged citizens to resist violence by “fringe elements” as Hadi’s body arrived in Dhaka 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 shortly after the body arrived.