Bangladesh Unrest Erupts Again: What is causing Bangladesh’s unrest—the death of a student leader, anti-India demonstrations, and diplomatic threats? Described

Bangladesh Unrest Erupts Again: After battling for his life for six days, Sharif Osman Hadi, a well-known July Uprising commander who was wounded last week, passed away while receiving treatment in a Singaporean hospital. Hadi passed away late Thursday. He was also a candidate in the general elections that are set for February 12. Last week, when he began his election campaign in the Bijoynagar neighborhood of downtown Dhaka, he was wounded in the head by masked gunmen.

Doctors in Dhaka assessed Hadi’s health as “extremely critical,” so Muhammad Yunus’ temporary administration dispatched him to Singapore in an air ambulance on Monday for specialized treatment.

Yunus’s remarks after the passing of Sharif Osman Hadi

Late Thursday night, Chief Adviser Yunus revealed Hadi’s death and pledged to move quickly to apprehend his assassins in a nationally broadcast speech. “I came before you today with some extremely sad news. “We no longer have Sharif Osman Hadi, the fearless front-line fighter of the July Uprising and spokesperson of the Inqilab Mancha,” Yunus said. “No leniency will be shown” to the murderers, he said, vowing to swiftly bring those responsible for this heinous crime to justice.

SOURCE AND CREDIT: PTI

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“I implore all citizens to exercise patience and self-control,” he stated.
The state is absolutely dedicated to building the rule of law, he said, adding, “Let law enforcement agencies and other relevant organizations have the opportunity to carry out investigations with professionalism.”

Why did protests flare up in Bangladesh once more?

Following the news of Hadi’s passing, hundreds of people, including students, gathered at the Shahbagh crossroads in the capital, close to the Dhaka University campus, and sang “Who are you, who am I – Hadi, Hadi.” On the campus of Dhaka University, a group of students known as Jatiya Chhatra Shakti organized a procession of mourners and marched to Shahbagh to participate in the protest.

Why are anti-Indian demonstrations taking place in Bangladesh?

They were joined by the National Citizen Party (NCP), a sizable branch of Students Against Discrimination (SAD), who organized the violent demonstration the previous year. They sang anti-Indian chants, claiming that Hadi’s killers had escaped to India. They demanded that the Indian high commission be shut down by the interim administration until they were brought back.

“The Indian High Commission to Bangladesh would stay closed till India returns the killers of Hadi Bhai, according to the interim administration. Either now or never. “We are engaged in a conflict,” said Sarjis Alm, a prominent NCP figure. The home adviser’s effigy was burned by the Chhatra Shakti, who demanded his resignation for not apprehending Hadi’s murderers.

Why did demonstrators set media offices on fire?

At the capital’s Karwan Bazar, close to the Shahbagh crossroads, a group of persons thought to be demonstrators stormed the offices of the Bangla daily Prothom Alo and the local Daily Star.

According to reports, the crowd set fire in front of the building and damaged many levels as newspaper employees and journalists were confined inside. After a Prothom Alo facility was vandalized, a witness said, “Several hundred demonstrators reached the Prothom Alo office around 11 pm and later surrounded the building.” The rioters then set the Daily Star office on fire.

The reason for the attacks on both publications, which were well-known for their tacit support of Yunus and his provisional administration, was still unknown. On social media, a group of protesters was also seen making their way to 32 Dhanmandi, the residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s founding father and the site of the country’s decades-long pre-independence fight for freedom.

The mansion, which was converted into a memorial museum under a trust, was burned shortly after the then-Awami League administration fell on August 5, 2024, and was mostly destroyed by excavators on February 5 of this year.

In the northeastern port city of Chattagram, the protesters also set fire to the residence of former education minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel; similar incidents were reported from other areas of the nation.

The main advisor referred to Hadi as a “enemy to the defeated forces and fascist terrorists” in his speech, perhaps referring to the now-dissolved Awami League, which was headed by ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He went on to say, “Their malevolent attempts to intimidate the revolutionaries will be totally defeated.”

According to Yunus, the nation’s political and democratic realms have suffered an irreversible loss as a result of Hadi’s passing. “I offer my sincere condolences to his grieving wife, family, relatives, and coworkers, and I pray for the eternal peace of his departed soul,” he said.

He said that Hadi, a frontline leader of the rallies that overthrew Hasina’s administration on August 5, 2024, last year, would have her wife and lone kid taken care of by the government.

Earlier, the Mancha threatened to hold a sit-in demonstration at Shahbagh crossroads unless the assailants were taken into custody. “If the killer flees to India, they must be arrested and brought back at any cost through discussions with the Indian government,” added the statement.

Hadi’s passing was also lamented by the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). BNP interim leader Tarique Rahman said he was very saddened by Hadi’s death and called his premature passing “a grave reminder of the human cost of political violence,” according to The Daily Star. “Together, we must safeguard every citizen and prevent any such incident aiming to destabilise Bangladesh and undermine our democratic aspirations,” Tarique said on social media.

Mohammad Abdul Ahad, a leader of the Inquiab Mancha, said that Hadi’s remains will be sent home on Friday. A Taka 50 lakh reward for information leading to the capture of Hadi’s alleged attackers was previously declared by the home adviser. The parents, wife, and female acquaintance of the main suspect, Foysal Karim Masud, have been taken into custody by the police.