Who was Sharif Osman Hadi; why is Bangladesh on fire over his death?

Violent protests have erupted in multiple cities in Bangladesh after prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi died at Singapore’s General Hospital on Thursday.

Hadi died from gunshot injuries sustained during an assassination attempt in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, last week.
Who was Sharif Osman Hadi?
Hadi, 32, was a prominent leader of Bangladesh’s 2024 student-led uprising.

He acted as a spokesperson for Inquilab Mancha, or “Platform for Revolution”, and was planning to stand as a member of parliament for the Dhaka-8 constituency in the Bijoynagar area of the city in the upcoming elections, expected in February 2026.

Hadi was also an outspoken critic of India, where Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled following the uprising last year, and its influence on domestic politics in Bangladesh.
Where, when and how did Hadi die?
Authorities in Singapore and Inqilab Mancha announced his death on Thursday.

He died in a hospital in Singapore, where he was receiving treatment after being wounded in an assassination attempt on December 12. He was shot in the head by two assailants on a motorcycle, which pulled up beside the battery-powered auto-rickshaw he was travelling in. He was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.Hadi was found to have suffered brain stem damage and was transferred from Dhaka to Singapore General Hospital’s neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on December 15 for treatment.

“Despite the best efforts of the doctors … Hadi succumbed to his injuries,” Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.

In a Facebook post late on Thursday, Inqilab Mancha announced: “In the struggle against Indian hegemony, Allah has accepted the great revolutionary Osman Hadi as a martyr.”

On Friday, groups of mourners began to assemble in the Shahbag neighbourhood in central Dhaka, awaiting Hadi’s body, which was expected in the capital in the evening, Al Jazeera’s Moudud Ahmmed Sujan reported from Dhaka.

Later, Inqilab Mancha wrote on Facebook that a vehicle carrying the body of its former spokesperson was heading to Shahbag in central Dhaka.

At the family’s request, Hadi’s body was not taken directly to Dhaka University Central Mosque right away, as the group had reported earlier, but would be taken there on Saturday, the post said.