B'desh to hold funeral of slain youth leader amid tight security
Dhaka/ New Delhi (PTI): Bangladesh is set to hold the funeral of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi on Saturday amid tight security following unrest in the country triggered by his death.
The funeral prayer will be held at the South Plaza of the National Parliament Building at 2 pm, the press wing of the interim government of Bangladesh has announced.
The country is also observing a day of state mourning following the death of Hadi, who was one of the prominent leaders of the student-led protests last year, which led to the ouster of the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina-led government. He was also a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections.
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Hadi, the spokesperson of the Inqilab Mancha, was shot in the head on December 12 by masked gunmen as he initiated his election campaign at central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area. He died while undergoing treatment in Singapore.
The announcement of his death late on Thursday triggered overnight rampages in various parts of the country.
In a social media post on Friday, Inqilab Mancha said, "Upon the family's wishes, a decision has been taken to bury Hadi beside the grave of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and to hold his funeral prayer after Zuhr tomorrow at Manik Mia Avenue."
The party also announced that there would be no public viewing of the body, and people were requested to pray for Hadi while maintaining order.
A large number of law enforcement personnel have been deployed in and around the Parliament complex, and a tight security cordon has been imposed across the entire area, according to the Dhaka Tribune newspaper.
The government has also imposed a ban on flying drones in the area, and those wishing to attend the funeral have been asked not to carry any bags or heavy objects, it said.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police has said traffic will be suspended from Khejur Bagan Crossing to Manik Mia Avenue as a large turnout was expected, bdnews24.com news portal reported.
People from different parts of the country gathered at Shahbagh on Friday in a mourning procession, while attendees began arriving at Manik Mia Avenue from Saturday morning. The crowd is expected to grow as the day progresses, the report said.
As part of the state mourning, national flags were flown at half-mast at government offices, including the Secretariat in the capital, state-run BSS news agency reported.
Various parts of the country were rocked Thursday night by attacks and vandalism, including stone-hurling at the Assistant Indian High Commissioner's residence in Chattogram, attacks on offices of leading newspapers, and vandalism at Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, soon after Chief Adviser Muhhamad Yunus confirmed Hadi's death.
The interim government on Friday urged citizens to resist violence by “fringe elements” as Hadi's body arrived here from Singapore, amid fresh unrest in the capital.
Hadi's mortal remains arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at around 6 pm local time on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, amid heavy security.
After the flight's landing, videos shared on social media showed Hadi's followers lining up on both sides of the road from the airport to Shahbagh to receive him, before his coffin, draped in the national flag, was brought to the Dhaka University Central Mosque for a public meeting.
Former prime minister Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has alleged that unrest is part of a broader conspiracy to destabilise Bangladesh.
VIDEO | Bangladesh: People throng the Parliament area to attend the funeral of July uprising leader, Sharif Osman Hadi, in Dhaka.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 20, 2025
Hadi, one of the leaders who had taken part in the student-led protests last year – termed as July Uprising - and a candidate for the scheduled… pic.twitter.com/gVP3hmY1oS
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PM's silence on Kharge's insult by Himanta is his consent: Rahul
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the use of "derogatory language" against party chief Mallikarjun Kharge by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is an insult to the entire SC/ST community, and the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the matter "is not his helplessness, but his consent".
"If the prime minister sees an attack on the dignity of crores of Dalits in the country and does not speak up - he is not only shirking his responsibility, but is also a party to that insult," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
Gandhi said the use of "vulgar and derogatory language" by Sarma against Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Kharge "is entirely condemnable, shameful, and unacceptable".
"Kharge ji is a senior and popular Dalit leader of the country - his experience, stature, and prestige are unparalleled. Insulting him is not an insult to one individual alone, but also to crores of people from the SC-ST community in this country," he posted.
This, he said, just reflected the "old and premeditated mindset" of the BJP-RSS and was nothing new, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha said.
"Whether it is the insult to Babasaheb Ambedkar, belittling Dalit leaders, or personal attacks on representatives of the SC-ST community - the history of BJP and RSS bears witness that whenever a Dalit leader speaks the truth, they stoop to humiliate him," he posted.
"This is their ideology, this is their true character and face," he added.
Posing a direct question to the PM, he asked, "do you support Himanta Sarma's use of this language? Your silence is not helplessness, it is consent."
Sarma earlier hit out at Kharge, claiming that he was "speaking like a madman" due to old age, after the latter put the onus on central agencies to probe the charges made against the Assam chief minister.
Slamming the Congress chief, Sarma said, "Kharge is ageing and is speaking like a pagal (madman)."
