Bangladesh will hold the funeral of a prominent youth leader on Saturday under tight security, as unrest continues across the country following his death.
The funeral prayer is scheduled to be held at the South Plaza of the National Parliament Building at 2 pm, the press wing of Bangladesh’s interim government announced. Authorities have imposed a ban on flying drones in and around the Sangsad Bhaban during the janaza, Prothomalo news portal reported.
People wishing to attend the funeral have been asked not to carry bags or heavy objects with them.
In a social media post on Friday, Inqilab Mancha said, “Upon the family's wishes, a decision has been taken to bury Hadi beside the grave of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and to hold his funeral prayer after Zuhr tomorrow at Manik Mia Avenue.” The party also said there would be no public viewing of the body and requested people to pray for Hadi while maintaining order.
The developments came as Bangladesh’s interim government on Friday urged citizens to resist violence by “fringe elements” after the body of the youth leader arrived in Dhaka from Singapore, amid fresh unrest in the capital triggered by his death.
According to police, alleged radical right-wing activists set fire to the main office of the left-leaning Udichi Shilpigoshthi in the capital shortly after Sharif Osman Hadi’s body arrived from Singapore, where he had been undergoing treatment for fatal gunshot wounds inflicted by masked gunmen on December 12.
“The arson destroyed everything (inside Udichi's office),” said Jamshed Anwar, general secretary of the country’s largest cultural organisation, founded in 1968. A large number of police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and army personnel were deployed in front of the office.
Hadi was among the leaders who took part in last year’s student-led protests, known as the July Uprising, and was also a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections.
The body of Hadi, the spokesperson of Inqilab Mancha, arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at around 6 pm local time on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, amid tight security and widespread public mourning, state-run news agency BSS reported, quoting Biman General Manager (Public Relations) Boshra Islam. Members of the Bangladesh Army, Armed Forces Battalion (AFB) and police were deployed in large numbers as the body was taken out of the airport.
In a televised address to the nation late Thursday, interim government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus vowed swift justice, saying “no leniency will be shown” to those involved in Hadi’s brutal murder. He also urged citizens to maintain “patience and restraint”.
Despite the appeal, several parts of the country witnessed violence and vandalism on Thursday night, including stone-hurling at the residence of the Assistant Indian High Commissioner in Chattogram, shortly after Yunus confirmed Hadi’s death.
Yunus has declared a one-day state mourning on Saturday.
Earlier on Thursday, soon after Yunus’ announcement, protesters took to the streets, attacked the offices of two leading newspapers — Prothom Alo and Daily Star — vandalised the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum with hammers in Dhaka, and demolished an office of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s now-disbanded Awami League party in northwestern Rajshahi city.
“From the beginning, the ongoing failure of the current interim government to prevent mob violence has been evident, and the latest incident is yet another horrific example,” the Editors' Council and the Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) said in a joint statement.
Protesters later hurled bricks and stones at the residence of the Assistant Indian High Commissioner in Chattogram at around 1:30 am but failed to cause any damage. Police responded with tear gas and baton charges, dispersing the crowd and detaining 12 protesters. A few injuries were also reported, while senior officials assured the assistant high commissioner of enhanced security.
A mob also attacked the leading progressive cultural group Chhayanat, founded in 1961, in the Dhanmondi area, ransacking the seven-storey building floor by floor and destroying musical instruments, artworks and important documents.
On Thursday night, the National Citizen Party (NCP), a major offshoot of Students Against Discrimination (SAD) that led the July uprising which ousted the Hasina-led government, joined a mourning procession on the Dhaka University campus. Supporters raised anti-India slogans, alleging that Hadi’s assailants fled to India after the killing, and demanded the closure of the Indian High Commission until the suspects are returned.
“The interim government must close the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh until India returns the assassins of Hadi bhai. Now or never. We are in a war,” said Sarjis Alm, a key NCP leader.
Sporadic violence was also reported from other parts of the country overnight. In Mymensingh city, a Hindu man was lynched to death and his body set on fire over alleged blasphemy. The deceased was identified as 25-year-old Dipu Chandra Das, a factory worker.
Condemning the lynching, the interim government said on Friday that there is no space for such violence in the new Bangladesh. “The perpetrators of this heinous crime will not be spared,” it added.
Meanwhile, videos shared on social media after the Singapore flight landed showed Hadi’s followers lining both sides of the road from the airport to Shahbagh to receive him. His coffin, draped in the national flag, was later taken to the Dhaka University Central Mosque for a public meeting.
Hadi was shot in the head last week by masked gunmen while initiating his election campaign in central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told BBC Bangla on Friday that the recent mobs, vandalism and arson incidents were part of a broader conspiracy to destabilise the country. Condemning Hadi’s killing, he said, “We think these mobs, attacks and acts of vandalism surrounding this incident are all part of a blueprint.” “Through these activities, there is an attempt to establish extremism in Bangladesh,” he added.
The US Embassy in Dhaka on Friday issued an advisory urging American citizens to exercise caution, warning that “gatherings intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence”. The mission advised them to avoid demonstrations and remain cautious around large gatherings.
The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) also issued a travel advisory, urging British citizens to avoid travel, unless very essential, to the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, citing reports of violence and other criminal activity, particularly in remote areas.