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. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
People react as they gather to perform 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. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
People gather around an ambulance carrying the body of leading Bangladeshi activist Sharif Osman Hadi, who died from gunshot wounds sustained in an attack in Dhaka earlier this month, following his funeral prayers outside the nation's Parliament complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
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. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
People react as they gather to perform 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. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
People gather around an ambulance carrying the body of leading Bangladeshi activist Sharif Osman Hadi, who died from gunshot wounds sustained in an attack in Dhaka earlier this month, following his funeral prayers outside the nation's Parliament complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people attended the funeral Saturday of a leading Bangladeshi activist who died of gunshot wounds sustained in an attack in Dhaka earlier this month, as political tensions gripped the country ahead of elections.
Sharif Osman Hadi, who took part in last year’s political uprising that ended former 15-year rule, died in a hospital in Singapore on Thursday after being shot Dec. 12 in Dhaka.
Police said they had identified suspects and that the shooter had most probably fled to India, where Hasina has been in exile. The development sparked a new diplomatic squabble with India and prompted New Delhi this week to summon Bangladesh’s envoy. Bangladesh also summoned the Indian envoy to Dhaka.
Security was tight in Dhaka on Saturday as the funeral prayers were held outside the nation’s Parliament complex.
Hadi’s body returned on Friday night, and Saturday was declared a national mourning day.
Hadi was a spokesperson for the Inqilab Moncho culture group, which said he would be buried on the Dhaka University campus beside the country’s national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Mourners carried Bangladesh flags and chanted slogans, such as “We will be Hadi, we will be fighting decades after decades,†and “We will not let Hadi’s blood go in vain.â€
The news of his death on Thursday evening triggered with groups of protesters attacking and torching the offices of two leading national dailies. The country’s interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate has urged the people to stay calm.
Hadi was a fierce critic of both neighboring India and Hasina, who has been in exile since Aug. 5, 2024, when she fled Bangladesh. Hadi had planned to run as an independent candidate in a major constituency in Dhaka in the next national elections in February.
Bangladesh has been going through under Yunus in a bid to return to democracy through the upcoming elections. But the government has been Hasina’s Awami League party, which is one of two major political parties. ,
Hasina’s archrival, former Bangladesh ºÃÉ«tvist Party is the other key party, which hopes to forms the next government. The Jamaat-e-Islami party, the country’s largest Islamist party with a dark history involving the nation’s , is leading an alliance to carve out a bigger political space in the absence of Hasina’s party and its allies.
Hasina on charges of crimes against humanity, but India's has not responded to repeated requests by the Yunus-led government for her extradition.
The ºÃÉ«tv Press. All rights reserved.
Canada is entering a new era of nation-building. From clean-energy corridors and c…
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
