Bangladesh on edge after killing of 2024 uprising activist triggers unrest

Bangladesh’s security forces have moved onto the streets of the capital, Dhaka, and other major cities after overnight violence erupted over the murder of Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent youth leader of the 2024 uprising, raising fears of further unrest ahead of February’s national elections.

Police and paramilitary units increased patrols across Dhaka after protests turned violent late on Thursday, targeting media offices, political buildings and cultural institutions. The protests continued on Friday with reports that demonstrators had cut off access to a highway in the city of Gazipur, located north of the capital, Dhaka.

The latest turbulent chapter in the nation’s recent history followed the death of Hadi, a 32-year-old spokesperson for Inquilab Moncho, or Platform for Revolution, who had planned to contest the upcoming election. Masked attackers shot Hadi in the head a week ago in Dhaka as he launched his campaign.

He was first treated at a local hospital before being flown to Singapore for advanced care, where he died after six days on life support.

Hadi’s repatriated body arrived in Bangladesh late on Friday evening from Singapore and left the airport, a local media platform close to the protest movement quoted Inqilab Moncho as saying.

The group wrote on Facebook that the vehicle carrying the body of its former spokesperson was heading to Shahbag in central Dhaka.

At the family’s request, Hadi’s body will not be taken to Dhaka University Central Mosque right away, as the group had reported earlier, but will be taken there on Saturday, the post said.

“Students will continue the movement with discipline today and tomorrow so that no group can infiltrate,” the group said. “There will be no chance to see the dead body.”

Hadi, also known for his outspoken criticism of India, was a leading figure in last year’s student-led uprising that forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee the country.

Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury, reporting from Dhaka, said: “Student leaders have called for a major protest …The protests have been going on across the country, not just in the capital city. Student leaders say that until the killers of Hadi are found, the protests will continue.

“We know that the killer may have – at least, from speculations made by police and others – escaped to India through the border. One of the people who was driving the motorcycle that the assailant was riding was actually caught, and several others were suspected of being tied to this event – at least 20 or so. But the actual killer who shot Hadi has not been caught yet. So, there’s a lot of tension in the city,” Chowdhury added.

India blamed

Al Jazeera’s Moudud Ahmmed Sujan reported from Dhaka that a retired Bangladeshi army officer has publicly called for the extradition of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina from India, accusing New Delhi of shielding those responsible for political violence.

Speaking at a protest in Shahbag, former Lieutenant Colonel Hasinur Rahman, who claims to be a victim of enforced disappearance under Hasina’s rule, accused India of backing what he described as authoritarian governance in Bangladesh. He said people were killed after being labelled as “militants”, Sujan reported.

Rahman also demanded the return of those accused of killing Hadi, whom he said are believed to have fled to India, insisting they must face trial in Bangladesh alongside Sheikh Hasina.

He criticised the interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus for failing to arrest Hadi’s alleged killers, warning that Bangladesh would not return to any form of authoritarian rule.

India, for its par,t has rejected the accusations and said on Friday it is closely monitoring Bangladesh’s “internal situation” but will not get involved in domestic affairs, the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi has said.

“Senior officials in both India and Bangladesh are acutely aware that Bangladesh’s internal situation remains fluid and evolving, requiring thorough and impartial analysis,” the commission’s spokesperson said in a statement.

Chowdhury reported that at the Dhaka University campus in Shahbag Square, “There’s a strong anti-India sentiment in the crowd. They say India always meddles in Bangladesh’s affairs – particularly right before the elections – and that the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been making provocative statements from India, where she is taking shelter.”

Tension on the streets

Nadim Hawlader, 32, from Dhaka’s airport area and an activist of a Bangladesh Nationalist Party-affiliated volunteer organisation, told Al Jazeera that Hadi had been “brutally murdered” to silence dissent.

“We have come to protest his killing and what we see as Indian aggression,” Hawlader said.

He said that India had exerted undue influence over Bangladesh since 1971, and accused New Delhi of backing Sheikh Hasina’s rule over the past 17 years, during which political repression and killings took place.

Hawlader also said that the perpetrators had fled to India and said the protests would continue until “Sheikh Hasina and all those responsible for killings are returned”. Bangladeshi authorities have not confirmed this.

Protesters are also demanding the resignation of the heads of the Home Affairs Ministry and the Law Ministry, accusing authorities of failing to ensure Hadi’s security.

On Thursday night, protesters vandalised the offices of Bangladesh’s largest daily newspaper, Prothom Alo, and the English-language Daily Star. Firefighters later brought a blaze at The Daily Star under control, rescuing journalists trapped inside as soldiers secured the area.

Protesters chanted slogans about Hadi, pledging to continue demonstrations and demanding swift justice. Several neighbourhoods remained tense as authorities deployed additional forces to deter further violence.

Government faces mounting pressure

Bangladesh has been run by an interim administration led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus since August 2024, after longtime leader Hasina was ousted and fled to India amid mass protests.

The government faces mounting pressure over delayed reforms, while Hasina’s Awami League has been barred from participating in the February 12 election.

In a televised address after Hadi’s death, Yunus said: “His passing represents an irreplaceable loss to the nation’s political and democratic sphere.” He urged calm, pledging a transparent investigation and warning that violence could jeopardise the credibility of the vote.

The interim government declared Saturday a day of state mourning, ordering flags flown at half-staff and organising special prayers nationwide.

Hasina’s violent legacy lingers

Elsewhere, protesters torched the home of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s first president and Hasina’s assassinated father, which had already been attacked twice last year. In Rajshahi, demonstrators bulldozed an Awami League office, while highways were blocked in several districts.

Violence also spread to Chittagong, where protesters attacked the Indian Assistant High Commission, as anti-India sentiment continues to grow since Hasina fled to New Delhi by helicopter on August 5, 2024.

In November, Hasina was sentenced to death by hanging after she was found guilty of crimes against humanity for ordering a deadly crackdown against last year’s student-led uprising that ousted her. The United Nations says that 1,400 protesters were killed and thousands were injured in the weeks of violence, as her government desperately sought to cling to power.

Shaina Begum, the mother of 20-year-old student Sajjat Hosen Sojal, who was shot and whose body was burned by the police hours before the student-led uprising forced Hasina to resign and flee the country, told Al Jazeera after the verdict, “I cannot be calm until she [Hasina] is brought back and hanged in this country.”

Hundreds of families who lost loved ones in the protests wonder if the deposed prime minister will ever face justice.