DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) 鈥� Hundreds of thousands of people attended the funeral Saturday of a leading Bangladeshi activist who died of gunshot wounds sustained in an attack in Dhaka earlier this month, as political tensions gripped the country ahead of elections.
Sharif Osman Hadi, who took part in last year鈥檚 political uprising that ended former 15-year rule, died in a hospital in Singapore on Thursday after being shot Dec. 12 in Dhaka.
Police said they had identified suspects and that the shooter had most probably fled to India, where Hasina has been in exile. The development sparked a new diplomatic squabble with India and prompted New Delhi this week to summon Bangladesh鈥檚 envoy. Bangladesh also summoned the Indian envoy to Dhaka.
Security was tight in Dhaka on Saturday as the funeral prayers were held outside the nation鈥檚 Parliament complex.
Hadi鈥檚 body returned on Friday night, and Saturday was declared a national mourning day.
Hadi was a spokesperson for the Inqilab Moncho culture group, which said he would be buried on the Dhaka University campus beside the country鈥檚 national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Mourners carried Bangladesh flags and chanted slogans, such as 鈥淲e will be Hadi, we will be fighting decades after decades,鈥� and 鈥淲e will not let Hadi鈥檚 blood go in vain.鈥�
The news of his death on Thursday evening triggered with groups of protesters attacking and torching the offices of two leading national dailies. The country鈥檚 interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate has urged the people to stay calm.
Hadi was a fierce critic of both neighboring India and Hasina, who has been in exile since Aug. 5, 2024, when she fled Bangladesh. Hadi had planned to run as an independent candidate in a major constituency in Dhaka in the next national elections in February.
Bangladesh has been going through under Yunus in a bid to return to democracy through the upcoming elections. But the government has been Hasina鈥檚 Awami League party, which is one of two major political parties. ,
Hasina鈥檚 archrival, former Bangladesh Nationalist Party is the other key party, which hopes to forms the next government. The Jamaat-e-Islami party, the country鈥檚 largest Islamist party with a dark history involving the nation鈥檚 , is leading an alliance to carve out a bigger political space in the absence of Hasina鈥檚 party and its allies.
Hasina on charges of crimes against humanity, but India’s has not responded to repeated requests by the Yunus-led government for her extradition.
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