Dhaka
\nTens of thousands of Bangladeshi mourners, including the country\u2019s interim government leader, attended the funeral on Saturday of a slain youth leader and election candidate amid tight security.
\nSharif Osman Hadi, 32, a key figure in last year\u2019s student-led uprising that toppled longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was shot in the head by masked assailants in Dhaka last week while launching his campaign for an election due in February. He died on Thursday in Singapore after six days on life support.
\nHis death has prompted a wave of unrest in the South Asian nation that included coordinated mob attacks on major newspapers and cultural institutions.
\nPolice and paramilitary forces were deployed across the capital for Saturday\u2019s funeral, but there were no reports of any renewed violence.
\nInterim government leader Muhammad Yunus said Hadi\u2019s legacy would endure, describing the funeral as a collective pledge to uphold the ideals he had championed.
\n\u201cToday, we have come to promise you (Hadi) that we will fulfil what you stood for,\u201d Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, told the mourners, who included Bangladesh\u2019s army chief and representatives from across the political spectrum.
\nIn a rare and symbolic honour, Hadi was laid to rest on the Dhaka University campus beside the grave of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.
\nBangladeshis hope election will end years of instability
\nBangladesh is to elect a new parliament on February 12 \u2014 a transition many hope will help the Muslim-majority nation of 175 million people recover from nearly two years of instability and reclaim its position as a regional success story.
\nBut frequent bouts of violent protests and political wrangling among disparate groups, including Islamist hardliners, have punctured the national sense of euphoria that arose after Hasina was ousted in August 2024.
\nIt has also exposed the limitations of Yunus\u2019 interim government, analysts say, raising questions over his grip on governance in the world\u2019s largest apparel producer after China.
\nThe government has declared Saturday a day of state mourning for Hadi and has urged citizens to resist \u201cmob violence by fringe elements\u201d, warning that turmoil threatens Bangladesh\u2019s fragile democratic transition.
\nHuman Rights Watch called Hadi\u2019s killing a \u201cterrible act\u201d and urged the government to act urgently to halt the violence that has gripped the country since Hasina\u2019s ouster.
\nThe rights group also condemned the attacks on the media as an assault on free expression.
\nBangladesh ranks 149th of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index. Rights groups say continued attacks on journalists and activists could further shrink civic space ahead of the election.
\nAmnesty International urged prompt, independent investigations into Hadi\u2019s killing and the subsequent violence, including the burning of newspaper offices and harassment of journalists.
\nDemonstrations continued on Friday in the Shahbagh area of the capital, where crowds demanded justice for Hadi and accountability for the attacks. A mob stormed the Dhaka office of Udichi Shilpigosthi, Bangladesh\u2019s premier progressive cultural organisation.
\nThe violence has spread beyond the capital. In Chittagong, protesters attacked the Indian Assistant High Commission, reflecting growing anti-India sentiment since Hasina fled to New Delhi after her ouster.
\nHer party, the Awami League, which has been barred from the election, has threatened unrest that some fear could derail the vote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dhaka Tens of thousands of Bangladeshi mourners, including the country\u2019s interim government leader, attended the funeral on Saturday of a slain youth leader and election candidate amid tight security. Sharif Osman Hadi, 32, a key figure in last year\u2019s student-led uprising that toppled longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was shot in the head by masked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-521175","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n