Bangladesh To Hold Youth Leader Hadi’s Funeral Today Amid Tight Security

The funeral of a well-known youth leader in Bangladesh is scheduled to take place on Saturday under strict security after his passing caused uproar in the nation.

The press office of Bangladesh's interim administration has stated that the funeral prayer will take place at 2:00 pm in the National Parliament Building's South Plaza.

According to the Prothomalo news source, the government banned drone operations in and around Sangsad Bhaban during Janaza.

It further stated that people who want to attend the funeral have been urged not to bring any heavy items or backpacks.

"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," Inqilab Mancha said on social media on Friday. People were requested to pray for Hadi while upholding order, and the party also declared that there would be no public sight of the body.

As the remains of a well-known youth leader arrived in Bangladesh from Singapore on Friday, amid new tension in the capital following nighttime rampages sparked by his death, the country's interim government encouraged residents to reject violence by "fringe elements."

“The arson destroyed everything (inside Udichi's office)," said Jamshed Anwar, general secretary of the country's largest cultural organisation, founded in 1968.

A large number of police, BGB, and army members were deployed in front of the office.

Hadi was one of the leaders who had taken part in the student-led protests last year, termed as the July Uprising, and a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections.

The body of Hadi, who was the spokesperson of the Inqilab Mancha, arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at around 6 pm local time on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, amid tight security and widespread public mourning, state-run news agency BSS reported, quoting Biman General Manager (Public Relations) Boshra Islam.

Members of the Bangladesh Army, Armed Forces Battalion (AFB) and police were deployed in large numbers to maintain security when Hadi's body was taken out of the airport, it added.

In a televised address to the nation on late Thursday, interim government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus vowed to bring those involved in Hadi's brutal murder to justice quickly, saying, “no leniency will be shown” to the killers.

He also urged citizens to keep "patience and restraint”.

However, shortly after Yunus verified Hadi's death, violence and vandalism, including stone-hurling at the Assistant Indian High Commissioner's home in Chattogram, shook several regions of the nation on Thursday night.

On Saturday, Yunus will observe a one-day state of mourning.

Early on Thursday, shortly after Yunus' announcement, demonstrators took to the streets and destroyed an office of the now-defunct Awami League party in northwest Rajshahi city, vandalised the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhaka with hammers, and attacked the offices of two prominent newspapers, Prothom Alo and Daily Star.

“From the beginning, the ongoing failure of the current interim government to prevent mob violence has been evident, and the latest incident is yet another horrific example,” the Editors' Council and the Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) said in a joint statement.

Protesters also hurled bricks and stones at the residence of the Assistant Indian High Commissioner in Chattogram at 1:30 am, but failed to cause any damage.

Police responded with tear gas and baton charges, dispersing the crowd and detaining 12 protesters. A few injuries were also reported.

Senior officials assured the assistant high commissioner of enhanced security.

“The interim government must close the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh until India returns the assassins of Hadi bhai. Now or never. We are in a war,” said Sarjis Alm, a key NCP leader.

Sporadic violence was also reported from other parts of the country overnight.

A Hindu man was lynched to death and his body set on fire over alleged blasphemy in Mymensingh city. The deceased, identified as 25-year-old Dipu Chandra Das, was a factory worker in the city.

In a statement, the interim government on Friday condemned the lynching, saying there is no space for such violence in the new Bangladesh. "The perpetrators of this heinous crime will not be spared," it added.

Meanwhile, after the flight from Singapore landed in Dhaka, 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.

Hadi was shot in the head last week by masked gunmen as he initiated his election campaign at central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area.

Former prime minister Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told BBC Bangla on Friday that recent incidents of mobs, vandalism and arson targeting various locations across the country are part of a broader conspiracy to destabilise Bangladesh.

Condemning the killing of Hadi, he said, "We think these mobs, attacks and acts of vandalism surrounding this incident are all part of a blueprint." "Through these activities, there is an attempt to establish extremism in Bangladesh," he said.

The US Embassy in Dhaka on Friday issued an advisory, urging American citizens in Bangladesh to exercise caution, warning that "gatherings intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence".

The mission advised them to avoid demonstrations and exercise caution in the vicinity of any large gatherings.

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has also issued a travel advisory, urging British citizens to avoid travel, unless very essential, to the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, citing reports of violence and other criminal activity, particularly in remote parts.