Inqilab Moncho has announced plans to hold a “Hadi rally” within the next week, demanding justice for the killing of the platform’s spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi.
The platform’s member secretary Abdullah Al Jaber and the announcement on Friday afternoon at a protest rally held at the base of the Raju Sculpture on the Dhaka University campus.
Following Jumma prayers, leaders and activists of Inqilab Moncho brought out a protest procession from the university’s Central Mosque, which later converged at the Raju Sculpture and turned into a brief rally. Participants chanted slogans demanding justice for Hadi’s killing. The programme ended around 4:00pm with the announcement of the Hadi rally.
Abdullah Al Jaber said, “The Hadi rally will be held within the next week, and over a lakh of people will take part. The rally will carry one clear message: those who stand against the country’s independence and sovereignty will not be safe on this soil. Even no funeral prayers will be held for them.”
Addressing the chief adviser of the interim government, he said, “After July, the country’s youth placed their trust in you. At the funeral, you said you carried Shaheed Hadi in your heart. If that is truly the case, then it should not be unknown to you where the killers are. The nation must be clearly told who was involved in the killing, who planned it and who provided support.”
Stating that all political parties would be invited to join the rally, Abdullah Al Jaber said, “Through the rally, we will determine what political parties actually want. After that, we will spread across all 300 constituencies for justice. We will not recognise any political party. We recognise only justice. We will vote only for those who stand for justice in the Hadi murder. Our struggle will begin after the rally.”
He also raised questions over the charge sheet in the case, saying, “The DB office has said that there were five teams present on the day Hadi was shot. Then why does the charge sheet include only the names of those who fired the shots? Where are the other teams? We want answers.”
Slogans such as “We will all become Hadi and keep fighting through the ages”, “We want justice for Hadi’s killing” and “We want justice” were chanted at the rally.
A protest procession was also held in Chattogram on Friday after Jumma prayers, pressing the same demand. The procession began from the premises of Anderkilla Shahi Jame Mosque, marched through key roads of the city, and ended with a brief rally at Kazi Deuri intersection.
Former leader of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement in Chattogram Ibne Hossain Ziyad said the interim government had begun to stall over ensuring justice for Hadi’s killing. He warned that if justice was not ensured, movements would be launched against the law adviser, the home adviser and the interim government.
At the rally, Inqilab Moncho Chittagong University unit convener Rafsan Rakib alleged that accurate information had not been reflected in the charge sheet of the Hadi murder case. He said it must be clarified whether the interim government was delaying justice, warning that if the stalling continued, tougher programmes would be announced from Chattogram.
Earlier, on Thursday, a Dhaka court directed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to carry out further investigation into Sharif Osman Hadi’s murder case.
Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jashita Islam passed the order after the complainant expressed dissatisfaction with the initial investigation and submitted a naraji petition (a no-confidence motion) against the charge sheet, requesting a further probe.
The court also ordered the submission of the investigation report by 20 January, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Deputy Commissioner Miah Mohammad Ashis Bin Hasan.
Osman Hadi, who was also a prospective candidate for the Dhaka-8 constituency, was shot in the head on December 12 while traveling in a rickshaw on Culvert Road in Purana Paltan.
He was later airlifted to Singapore for advanced treatment, where he succumbed to his injuries on the night of 18 December.
