Dhaka, December 20, 2025: Tens of thousands of mourners, including Bangladesh’s interim government leader Muhammad Yunus, attended the funeral on Saturday of slain youth leader and election candidate Sharif Osman Hadi amid heightened security, as the country grapples with fresh unrest ahead of February’s general election.
Hadi, 32, a prominent figure in last year’s student-led uprising that toppled long-time prime minister Sheikh Hasina, was shot in the head by masked assailants in Dhaka last week while launching his election campaign. He succumbed to his injuries on Thursday in Singapore after spending six days on life support.
His killing has triggered a new wave of instability in the South Asian nation, including coordinated mob attacks on major newspapers and cultural institutions. Police and paramilitary forces were deployed across Dhaka for Saturday’s funeral, though authorities reported no fresh violence during the proceedings.
A large convoy carrying Hadi’s body moved through crowds following funeral prayers in the capital. In a rare symbolic gesture, he was laid to rest on the Dhaka University campus beside the grave of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Addressing mourners, interim government chief Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said Hadi’s legacy would endure and described the funeral as a collective commitment to the ideals the young leader represented.
“Today, we have come to promise you that we will fulfil what you stood for,” Yunus said, as senior political figures, including the army chief and representatives from across the political spectrum, looked on.
Bangladesh is set to elect a new parliament on February 12, a vote many hope will help the Muslim-majority nation of 175 million recover from nearly two years of political turmoil and restore its reputation as a regional success story. However, recurring violent protests and deep political divisions — including tensions involving Islamist hardliners — have dampened the optimism that followed Hasina’s ouster in August 2024.
Analysts say the unrest has also highlighted the challenges facing Yunus’ interim administration, raising questions about its ability to maintain order and steer the country through a fragile democratic transition in the world’s second-largest apparel producer after China.
The government declared Saturday a day of state mourning for Hadi and urged citizens to resist what it described as “mob violence by fringe elements,” warning that continued unrest could undermine the electoral process.
International rights groups strongly condemned the killing and the subsequent violence. Human Rights Watch described Hadi’s death as a “terrible act” and called on authorities to urgently halt attacks that have engulfed the country since Hasina’s fall, including assaults on media outlets. Bangladesh currently ranks 149th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index.
Amnesty International also urged prompt and independent investigations into Hadi’s killing and the wave of violence that followed, including the burning of newspaper offices and harassment of journalists.
Protests continued on Friday in Dhaka’s Shahbagh area, where demonstrators demanded justice for Hadi and accountability for attacks on the media and cultural organisations. A mob stormed the Dhaka office of Udichi Shilpigosthi, one of the country’s leading progressive cultural groups.
The violence has spread beyond the capital. In Chittagong, protesters attacked the Indian Assistant High Commission, reflecting rising anti-India sentiment since Hasina fled to New Delhi after being ousted. Her party, the Awami League — barred from contesting the upcoming election — has threatened further unrest, fuelling fears that continued instability could derail the February polls.
