Dhaka – Sharif Osman Hadi, spokesman for the Inqilab Manch cultural group, was buried beside the grave of Bangladesh’s national poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam, on Saturday.
The final rites took place at 4:00 PM at the National Poet’s Mausoleum, adjacent to the central mosque of Dhaka University, as his friends, political associates, relatives, and supporters paid their final respects.
“Martyr Sharif Osman Hadi has become a part of history. May Allah accept his sacrifice for the country,” said Professor Niyaz Ahmed Khan, Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University.
Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of people gathered for his funeral prayers at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, while the nation observed a state-mourning day declared in his honor.
The sequence of events leading to the burial began in the morning with the completion of Hadi’s autopsy at Suhrawardy Hospital.
After a ritual bathing at the National Heart Institute, his body was taken in a procession to the parliament complex on Manik Miah Avenue.
The funeral prayer, led by his elder brother Abu Bakr Siddiq, was attended by Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus, cabinet colleagues, and leaders of major political parties.
Mourners had begun gathering in the area from the morning. By noon, key points including Manik Miah Avenue at Farmgate, Bijoy Sarani, and Asad Gate were filled with crowds chanting slogans such as, “We will all become Hadi, we will fight on through the ages,” and “We will not let Hadi Bhai’s blood be in vain.”
Hadi, a key figure in last year’s mass uprising, died in a Singapore hospital on Thursday, a week after being shot at close range by helmeted assailants in Dhaka’s Paltan area on December 12.
After initial treatment in Dhaka, he was airlifted to Singapore for advanced care but succumbed to his injuries. His body was repatriated on Friday.
In a televised address following Hadi’s death, Chief Adviser Yunus announced the state mourning. The national flag was flown at half-mast nationwide and at Bangladeshi missions abroad.
His death has sparked widespread protests and unrest. During overnight demonstrations on Thursday, the offices of two major newspapers, The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, were vandalized and set on fire in Dhaka, with acts of vandalism also reported in other parts of the country.
