Finish Hadi Murder Trial in 30 Days or Face Agitation

Inqilab Moncho today resumed its blockade at Dhaka’s Shahbagh intersection, demanding a swift trial over the killing of its spokesperson Sharif Osman Bin Hadi.

Ahead of Juma prayers, the platform called on mosques across the country to offer special prayers seeking justice for Hadi’s murder. After the prayers, protesters brought out a procession from the Dhaka University Central Mosque and later occupied the Shahbagh crossing.

Addressing a rally at Shahbagh, Abdullah Al Jaber, member secretary of Inqilab Moncho, warned that failure to complete the trial within the platform’s set deadline would trigger an anti-government movement demanding the resignation of the authorities.

He said the platform had given the government a 30-working-day deadline to complete the judicial process, with 22 days remaining. “We are moving forward according to this timeline. If the trial is not completed within this period, we will launch a movement to topple the government,” Jaber said.

He criticised the authorities for failing to identify the killers, submit a charge sheet or keep the public informed about the investigation’s progress. “A state that cannot ensure law and order or activate its intelligence agencies has no moral right to remain in power,” he added.

Jaber demanded that by the seventh of the month, those directly involved in the killing, as well as the masterminds behind it, must be identified and a charge sheet submitted. “If exposing the masterminds costs you power, then you do not deserve to stay in power,” he said.

He also announced that once the trial formally begins, Inqilab Moncho will launch a public campaign ahead of the elections to inform voters whom they should and should not support.

The platform plans to seek support from what it described as “pro-Bangladesh” political and cultural organisations in the coming days to build broader solidarity for its demand.

Describing Hadi as a frontline leader of the anti-Indian hegemony movement, a participant in the July uprising and a rising political figure, Jaber claimed these factors contributed to his killing.

He further said that on the seventh of the month, demonstrations would be held in front of Bangladesh missions in at least 100 countries, demanding justice for Sharif Osman Bin Hadi.

Inqilab Moncho launched the blockade last Friday. Protesters briefly withdrew from Shahbagh on Monday night amid a cold wave and shifted to online activism. The programme was later postponed following the death and funeral of former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia.