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The tumultuous period of July 2024 saw the emergence of respective pupil activists who provided integrated enactment to a almighty fashionable question that overthrew the authorities of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Sharif Osman Hadi, who died successful Singapore connected Thursday (December 18, 2025), was among those who took to the streets successful July, though the uprising did not bring him contiguous prominence. That came later, connected September 27, 2024, erstwhile a well-known writer and exertion of Amar Desh paper returned from a five-and-a-half-year exile successful Turkey.
On that day, Hadi led a squad of activists to Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport successful Dhaka arsenic Mahmudur Rahman, who had been targeted by Sheikh Hasina’s authorities for his journalism, returned connected a Qatar Airways formation and delivered an affectional code atop a truck. It was the archetypal clip Dhaka witnessed the organisational vigor with which Hadi could marshal a spontaneous nationalist event. In the months that followed, Hadi roseate to prominence by articulating a program to alteration the July-August uprising into a factual governmental project.
Political views
At the bosom of his appeal, Hadi kept his individuality arsenic a Bengali Muslim (Bangali Mussalman). In a code delivered earlier this year, Hadi recollected that arsenic a cap-wearing Muslim successful Dhaka University during the 2013 Shahbag movement, his teacher had referred to him arsenic “Hefazat”, a derogatory abbreviated signifier of extremist radical Hefazat-e-Islam, adjacent though astatine that clip helium had respective differences with the group. His connection was rooted successful the anti-colonial practice of Bengal and southbound Asia arsenic good arsenic what helium perceived arsenic “India’s taste hegemony implicit Bangladesh”. He besides spoke successful enactment of the victims of the Israeli bombing successful the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
Also work | Bangladesh unrest aft Sharif Osman Hadi’s demise
Student activists who led the uprising against Ms. Hasina went connected to signifier 2 large streams successful caller Bangladesh politics. One stream, led by Asif Mahmud Shajib Bhuyan, Mahfuj Alam and Nahid Islam, joined the interim authorities nether Muhammad Yunus, portion the different consisting of Hasnat Abdullah and Sarjis Alam gave signifier to the National Citizen Party that was launched successful February 2025.
Hadi belonged to a 3rd radical that did not get into the authorities nor did they get accommodated successful the NCP. This 3rd radical provided musculus powerfulness and filled aggregate voluntary organisations that gave beingness to the anti-Hasina movement. He was articulate and recovered enactment from the likes of Mahmudur Rahman, who, from Turkey, encountered Hadi successful a zoom league successful aboriginal 2024. Hadi’s different supporters are the Paris-based Pinaki Bhattacharya and U.S.-based writer Elias Hossain, who are starring critics of India’s relation successful South Asia.
One of the archetypal things that Mr. Rahman did upon his instrumentality to Dhaka was to motorboat Amar Desh arsenic a large paper successful Bangladesh that focused connected disapproval of India and arsenic a professional of India, Hadi recovered successful Amar Desh a reliable conveyance that amplified his passionate dependable overnight giving him a ample following.
July Charter
In the meantime, Hadi, on with chap travellers Ziaul Hasan, Rafe Salman Rifat and Afroja Tuli, formed Inquilab Cultural Centre and Inquilab Mancho that propagated their ideas. Hadi believed that implicit the past 16 years Bangladesh was ruled by a signifier of “cultural fascism” that was implemented astatine location by the Hasina authorities with enactment from India. The radical often shared a level with NCP arsenic good arsenic different extremist outfit July Mancho.
In October 2024, the thought of a July Charter summing up the principles for a caller roadworthy representation of Bangladesh was floated by the pupil activists and an effort was made to motorboat it by the extremity of December. That inaugural failed erstwhile the subject main General Waker uz Zaman pushed back. Hadi and his team, however, kept the momentum for July Charter with his July Janata Red March and by his predominant appearances successful the media that sustained enthusiasm for the Charter that was yet launched connected the archetypal day of the downfall of Hasina connected August 5, 2025. The charter is absorption of a referendum that volition instrumentality spot alongside the next predetermination scheduled for February 12, 2026.
Break with the past
Hadi’s authorities preferred a cleanable interruption with Bangladesh’s past opening with 1971 and successful that helium was placed against some the Awami League and an assortment of forces that Inquilab Mancho describes arsenic “deep establishment” of Bangladesh. Hadi’s beardown advocacy extracurricular the interim authorities was 1 of the factors that pushed the interim authorities to prohibition the activities of Awami League.
He said the advisers of the interim authorities were not accountable to the radical of Bangladesh but the radical who fought against Ms. Hasina came from Jamaat-e-Islami, the BNP and the “July warriors” who request greater accidental successful Bangladesh and merit explicit enactment from the interim government. He besides spoke openly astir his dialog with groups similar Hefazat-E-Islam.
As helium built unit connected the interim authorities for holding a referendum connected the July Charter up of the wide election, his differences with the BNP became clearer. The BNP spoke openly against attempts to reverse the bequest of the Liberation War, indicating their discomfort with the pro-Jamaat enactment of Hadi.
Hadi and his supporters, including his backers successful the media, deed backmost astatine the BNP, criticising it of speaking “like the Awami League”.
Before being fatally changeable connected December 12, Hadi had started campaigning for the upcoming predetermination from Dhaka 8 constituency. Choice of this constituency had pitted Hadi against BNP strongman Mirza Abbas. Mr. Abbas had been a Minister successful the Khaleda Zia authorities of 2001-06 and had survived the Hasina-era contempt the unit helium faced for being a salient sanction of the BNP.
In his death, Hadi has thrown a spanner successful the plans of the BNP’s acting chairperson, Tarique Rahman, who is expected to instrumentality from London connected December 25, ending an 18-year exile. The Rapid Action Battalion has arrested Sanjay Chisim and Shibion Diu for allegedly assisting Faisal Karim Masud, the main fishy successful the Hadi case, who has reportedly fled to India. Police person besides arrested Masud’s parents. However, Hadi’s workfellow Rafe Salman Rifat has accused Bangladesh “deep establishment” of being down the murder.
