Staff Reporter :
BNP senior leader Mirza Abbas on Saturday said the gun attack on Inqilab Mancha convener Sharif Osman bin Hadi ahead of the election was not an isolated event but part of a wider conspiracy.
“This incident is not separate. First, Ershad Ullah was attacked in Chattogram, and now Hadi has been targeted in Dhaka. These are small episodes of a much larger plot. More details will emerge in the coming days,” Abbas said.
He made the remarks while addressing a protest rally in front of the BNP’s central office at Nayapaltan. The programme was organised by the BNP Dhaka South City unit to protest the attacks on Hadi and Ershad Ullah and to demand swift justice.
Referring to the earlier shooting of Ershad Ullah in Chattogram, Abbas said the attack on Osman Hadi was an assault on democracy, sovereignty, and people’s right to vote.
He urged party activists to resist what he described as dark forces behind the violence. “Those trying to destabilise the situation must be stopped and given a strong response,” he warned.
A Standing Committee member of the BNP, Abbas alleged that the attack was premeditated. He said Hadi was shot around 2:00pm and within half an hour, social media posts began circulating calls to gather and create unrest. “This clearly proves that it was planned in advance,” he claimed.
Osman Hadi was shot in Dhaka a day after the Election Commission announced the schedule for the 13th parliamentary election and referendum, setting February 12 as polling day. He sustained a bullet injury to the head and is currently receiving treatment at Evercare Hospital. Hadi had been campaigning to contest the Dhaka-8 constituency as an independent candidate.
Earlier, on November 5, BNP-backed candidate Ershad Ullah was also shot while campaigning in Chattogram-8.
Abbas, who is also a BNP nominee for the Dhaka-8 seat, said he faced aggressive slogans when he went to Dhaka Medical College Hospital to visit the injured Hadi.
He alleged that those shouting slogans were not Hadi’s supporters but leaders of an associate body of another political party, accusing them of deliberately attempting to disrupt Hadi’s treatment. “They wanted him to die,” Abbas alleged.
Strongly condemning the attack, Abbas described Osman Hadi as “like a son” to him. “When I heard he had been shot, I was mentally devastated. This is an attack on democracy itself,” he said.
He added that he does not wish death upon anyone, regardless of political affiliation, but insisted that those involved in violence and incitement must be brought to justice. “We demand the arrest of those responsible and the exposure of the masterminds behind this plot,” he said.
Calling Hadi a courageous street activist, Abbas said, “He is not my enemy in the election. He is my competitor. I hope to see him healthy and active again on the campaign trail very soon.”
After the rally, BNP leaders and activists brought out a protest procession from Nayapaltan. The march passed through Bijoynagar and Fakirapool before ending in front of the party’s central office.
