Bangladesh Unrest: The Dhaka College campus noticed an enormous turnout on Saturday (December 20) as scholar chief Sharif Osman Hadi was laid to relaxation. Interim authorities chief advisor Mohammad Yunus attended the funeral, highlighting the political and social significance of the occasion.
Bangladesh Unrest: Almost 50 years after Bangladesh’s rebellious poet Kazi Nazrul Islam was buried close to Dhaka College’s mosque in 1976, one other individual of defiance, scholar chief Sharif Osman Hadi, was laid to relaxation on the identical website on Saturday (December 20). He was killed allegedly in a rigorously orchestrated assassination, and his funeral drew a crowd of unprecedented proportions.
Thousands and thousands flooded the streets of the capital, whereas hundreds travelled from close by cities and cities to participate within the funeral, successfully filling the town with a sea of mourners.
Hadi was buried subsequent to Kazi Nazrul Islam, a parallel that has stirred dialogue throughout Bangladesh. Whereas many observers view the connection as pure, since Nazrul’s poetry had impressed Hadi’s activism, social media reels and viral clips present him utilizing the poet’s verses as a symbolic weapon.
Equally, critics of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s administration started portraying him as a “Biplobi” (a revolutionary), echoing Nazrul’s legacy.
Throughout his rallies, Hadi typically recited stanzas from Nazrul’s poetry, “I’m the storm, I’m the whirlwind. I’m the unstoppable Rudra (untamed energy, fury and unstoppable vitality), the stressed roar. The sky shatters at my laughter, the heavens soar at my contact. I come as a flood, embracing waves with my chest. I uproot bushes, break roofs and play all video games of concern. I’m the fire-spewing whirlwind, the dance of loss of life swims in water. Folks tremble, the town trembles and mud falls at my toes.”
Hadi emerged because the self-proclaimed inheritor to Nazrul’s revolutionary spirit, particularly after main the anti-Hasina scholar motion beneath the banner of the political platform Inquilab Manch. He was a vocal critic of Indian affect in Bangladesh and continuously spoke in opposition to Hasina’s Awami League.
The 32-year-old was planning to contest the Dhaka-8 seat as an impartial candidate within the February 2026 basic elections within the nation.
On December 12, whereas travelling in an electrical rickshaw, he was shot at by unknown attackers and later died in a Singapore hospital. The assault got here someday after the Bangladesh Election Fee introduced that the nation’s first basic election following Hasina’s departure would happen on February 12, 2026.
The alleged shooter, Faisal Karim, reportedly instructed his girlfriend the evening earlier than, “One thing goes to occur that can shake all of Bangladesh.”
Following Hadi’s loss of life, tons of of protesters took to the streets of Dhaka. Islamist components allegedly infiltrated the crowds, plunging the capital into violence and chaos. Cultural centres have been vandalised, and assaults focused Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s residence. Indian diplomatic missions and media homes, together with ‘The Day by day Star’ and ‘Prothom Alo’, that are crucial of each Hasina and Yunus’s governments, confronted assaults and arson.
The unrest occurred months forward of nationwide elections, with the interim authorities, allegedly backed by Islamist assist, holding energy. Demonstrators shouted anti-Hasina and anti-Awami League slogans all through Dhaka, whereas safety forces was on excessive alert.
Yunus himself attended Hadi’s funeral and delivered an emotional deal with. “Pricey Osman Hadi, we have now not come to bid you farewell. You reside in our hearts, and so long as Bangladesh exists, you’ll stay within the coronary heart of each Bangladeshi,” he stated.
Authorities tightened safety across the funeral, deploying the police, the Speedy Motion Battalion (RAB), Ansar and army personnel. At Shahbagh Circle, crowds demanded justice for Hadi’s killers, chanting slogans that had lately change into widespread in anti-India protests, “Not Delhi, Dhaka. Dhaka-Dhaka.”
The Inquilab Manch has petitioned to rename Shahbagh Circle in honor of the slain scholar chief.
Controversy Over Hadi’s Burial Subsequent To Nazrul
Dhaka College Proctor Saifuddin Ahmed confirmed that the choice was finalised throughout an emergency on-line assembly of the college syndicate after midnight. The choice adopted two purposes submitted by the Cupboard Division and the Dhaka College Central College students Union (DUCSU). The positioning was surveyed, empty plots have been mapped and ultimate approval was granted.
Since September, the DUCSU has allegedly been beneath the affect of Jamaat-e-Islami’s scholar wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir. Cupboard Division chief advisor Mohammad Yunus’s government workplace performed an necessary function within the course of.
Based on The Day by day Star, the Inquilab Manch acknowledged that Hadi’s household requested the burial subsequent to Nazrul, inflicting intense debate.
Awami League supporter Mostofa Amin criticised the choice, saying Nazrul symbolised tolerance and secularism; whereas, Hadi represented extremism and identity-based hatred. He described the burial adjoining to Nazrul’s grave a political act.
Then again, former Chattogram journalist A. Rahman Mitu referred to as it a blessing, hoping the graves of Nazrul and Hadi would relaxation on the identical axis.
On-line debates on secular Bangla subreddits confirmed deeply divided opinions, with some calling the juxtaposition shameful.
Born in 1993 in Jhalokathi district, Hadi moved to Dhaka and started his political journey on the Dhaka College, which grew to become the laboratory for his activism. The large turnout at his funeral displays his widespread affect in post-Hasina Bangladesh.
Through the July-August 2024 motion, he energised youth by reciting Nazrul’s revolutionary poetry.