From Dhaka’s streets to Indian diplomatic missions, the latest chapter of Bangladesh’s political upheaval has unspooled with dramatic speed and destabilising intensity, underscoring the fragility of South Asia’s most populous Muslim-majority democracy. What began as a public outcry over the death of a prominent youth leader has broadened into a volatile mix of political crisis, anti-India sentiment, communal violence and diplomatic rupture—a fusion that risks reshaping relations between two ancient neighbours and unsettling a strategically vital region.

FROM MOURNING TO MAYHEM

The catalyst was the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi, a 32-year-old youth leader central to the 2024 anti-government uprising. Gravely wounded in a shooting in Dhaka, Hadi died in Singapore in December 2025, prompting nationwide protests that quickly escalated beyond demands for justice. Tens of thousands attended his funeral under tight security, yet the funeral’s sombre mood belied a deeper fracture in society.

Anti-India slogans punctuated protests, and demonstrators attempted to march on Indian diplomatic missions, accusing New Delhi of complicity in the killing. These accusations have been amplified by student factions and Islamist groups, spreading the narrative that Hadi’s killers fled across the border—a claim that lacks confirmed evidence.

Yet, in a significant official statement, Bangladesh’s Additional Inspector General of Police, Khondker Rafiqul Islam, said authorities have no reliable information that the primary suspect—identified as Faisal—has left the country, and that the investigation is ongoing with no confirmed ties to any political party.........

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