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Bangladesh buried the young, firebrand politician Sharif Osman Hadi on Saturday (December 20) following a nationally-televised funeral attended by head of interim government Muhammad Yunus. Hadi, a 32-year old radical right-winger, who made anti-Indianism the central plank of his campaign, was laid to rest at Dhaka University, next to the grave of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. 

Even though Hadi came to prominence only in the past year or so, his funeral prayers attracted tens of thousands of people in Dhaka and prayers at mosques all across the country.  

“We have not come here to say farewell to you Hadi, we have come here to make our pledge to fulfil what you have said,” Yunus told the gathering. 

Hadi was shot in the head on December 12 in Dhaka and pronounced dead in a Singapore hospital on Thursday (December 18). In the intervening six days, the alleged killer and his accomplice were identified as leaders of Chhatro League, the student front of the Awami League. Both are alleged to have fled to India. 

People offer funeral prayers for leading Bangladeshi activist Sharif Osman Hadi, who died from gunshot wounds sustained in an attack in Dhaka earlier this month, outside the nation’s Parliament complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. Photo: AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu.

While Hadi was being buried, several hundred protesters gathered in a square next to the campus, demanding justice for the slain activist and chanting slogans against what they called Indian “hegemonism.” The protesters held India responsible for sheltering Hadi’s assassins and called on the government to arrest the killers and their enablers “within 24 hours.” 

Hadi, who was educated in a Madarsa, espoused a form of Muslim nationalism that he argued was the only way to protect Bangladesh’s sovereignty against Indian “hegemony.” His message, delivered in colloquial language in lively television talkshows, made him an iconic figure, especially among the youth, in a short span of time. 

“Many people differed with Hadi’s views, or his language and the manner of his delivery. But even they felt Hadi was genuine, he was honest, courageous and a patriot,” wrote political analyst and academic Dr. Zahed ur-Rahman. 

Over the past year or so, Hadi and his platform, the Inqilab Moncho, had led a vociferous campaign which held India responsible for all the ills that had befallen Bangladesh under the authoritarian rule of Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League. 

While Hadi’s funeral and burial created the impression of a nation united in grief, tension and apprehension continued to bubble underneath the superficial calm. The assassination has unleashed events that now threaten to upend preparations for next year’s elections. 

Leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist........

© The Wire