Staff Reporter :
A massive protest rally demanding justice for Inqilab Mancha spokesperson Sharif Osman Bin Hadi was held at the Shahbagh intersection in the capital on Saturday. Inqilab Mancha organised the rally. It gave 24hrs ultimatum to arrest Hadi’s killers.
Following Hadi’s burial on the Dhaka University campus, thousands of protesters gathered at Shahbagh. Processions from different parts of the city arrived in succession and eventually converged at the busy intersection to press their demand for justice over his killing.
During the demonstration, protesters raised slogans including “Delhi or Dhaka? Dhaka, Dhaka,” “Modi or Hadi? Hadi, Hadi,” “We want justice,” and “Catch Awami League, put them behind bars.”
The protesters began dispersing around 5:15pm, after which traffic gradually resumed on the Shahbagh-Matsya Bhaban, Shahbagh-Karwan Bazar, and Shahbagh-Science Lab roads, which had remained blocked during the protest.
Some demonstrators were also seen hurling shoes at an effigy bearing the photograph of Law Adviser Asif Nazrul during the rally.
Fatima Tasnim Juma, member secretary of the Dhaka University unit of Inqilab Mancha and secretary of the Liberation War and Democratic Movement of the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union, called on people to join the protest.
“Everyone come to Shahbagh,” she wrote in a Facebook post following Hadi’s funeral.
For security reasons, law enforcement agencies barricaded the road from Hotel InterContinental Dhaka towards Minto Road. A large contingent of police, APBn, and Border Guard Bangladesh personnel was deployed in the area, while water cannons and armoured personnel carriers were also positioned at the site.
Earlier in the day, Sharif Osman Hadi was laid to rest beside the grave of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam on the Dhaka University campus after his namaz-e-janaza was held at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad under tight security.
From the morning, mourners had gathered at Manik Mia Avenue in small processions to attend the funeral prayer, which was joined by a large crowd.
Hadi’s death has sparked protests in Dhaka and several other districts since Thursday night, with demonstrators continuing to demand justice for him.
