UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday urged Bangladeshi authorities and protesters to refrain from violence following the killing of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi. A prominent leader of the 2024 protests in Bangladesh, Hadi died from gunshot wounds sustained during an assassination attempt last week.
Türk stated that his office is prepared to work with authorities and all stakeholders to support efforts that uphold human rights and prevent further violence: “I urge the authorities to conduct a prompt, impartial, thorough and transparent investigation into the attack that led to Hadi’s death, and to ensure due process and accountability for those responsible.”
Hadi, 32, was a public voice of the “Platform for Revolution,” and planned on running for parliament in the upcoming February elections. He gained notoriety as a leader of the 2024 student-led protests and as a critic of Indian influence in Bangladeshi politics.
In Dhaka on December 12, attackers shot Hadi in the head while he was launching his political campaign. Local hospitals treated Hadi before doctors transferred him to Singapore General Hospital’s neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit on December 15 for treatment. Hadi died in Singapore on December 19.
Hadi’s death sparked nation-wide protests on Friday evening. In Dhaka, demonstrators torched the premises of the Bengali cultural organization Chhayanaut. They also set ablaze the buildings of two of the country’s largest newspapers, Prothom Alo and the Daily Star. In Rajshahi, protestors demolished an Awami League party office with a bulldozer.
The interim administration deployed police and paramilitary forces to prevent further violence. They declared Saturday a day of state mourning in honor of Hadi. Nobel laureate and leader of the interim government Muhammad Yunus addressed the nation following Hadi’s death. “His passing represents an irreplaceable loss to the nation’s political and democratic sphere,” he said.
Both Hadi and the current administration have roots in the July 2024 protest movement.
In July 2024, protests erupted in Bangladesh, led by students protesting the quota system. This system reserved 30 percent of government positions for Bangladesh Liberation War veterans and their descendants. The Bangladeshi High Court reinstated the system in June 2024 following its abolition in 2010.
The government responded through repression, with more than 20,000 injured and 300 killed. The protests eventually led to the resignation of the longest serving Prime Minister in Bangladeshi history, Sheikh Hasina.
While initially welcomed, the interim government has been plagued by a deteriorating human rights situation and political repression. Last month the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh sentenced Sheikh Hasina to death in absentia for crimes against humanity. Human Rights Watch raised concerns over the lack of a fair trial.
