Sharif Osman bin Hadi

Sharif Osman bin Hadi was born on 30 June 1993 in Nalchity Upazila, in the southern district of Jhalokathi, the youngest of six children of a madrasa teacher. [1] He studied at a madrasa in Jhalakati and then at the University of Dhaka, where he read political science. [2, 3]

He came to national attention during the student-led uprising of July 2024, helping to organise demonstrations and acting, in one account, as a bridge between student groups and wider civil society. [4] After the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government he co-founded Inqilab Moncho, a platform born of the protest movement, and became its spokesperson and convener. [1, 4]

By 2025 he was leading street protests, and he announced that he would stand as an independent candidate for Parliament in the Dhaka-8 constituency at the general election scheduled for February 2026. [1, 5, 4] On 12 December 2025 he was shot in central Dhaka after campaign activities there. He died in Singapore six days later, on 18 December, at the age of 32. [6, 7]

This page follows his life in order: his upbringing and education, the uprising, the politics he argued for, the threats he reported, his death and how he has been remembered. The investigation and court case that followed are documented separately in the Justice section.

Hadi was born on 30 June 1993 in Nalchity Upazila of Jhalokathi District, in the south of Bangladesh. He was the youngest of six children. [1]

His father, Maulana Abdul Hadi, taught at a madrasa and served as a local imam. [1] Accounts of Hadi’s early years describe a devout household in which religious learning and education were central. [1, 2]

He was educated at Jhalakati N. S. Kamil Madrasa, where he completed the Alim, the higher-secondary certificate of the madrasa system. [2]

In 2010 he enrolled at the University of Dhaka to study political science, and went on to complete a master’s degree in the subject. At university he became active in campus politics and in debating, where, according to a published profile, he developed as a speaker and an organiser. [3]

After graduating he worked for a short time as a lecturer in the Business Studies department of the University of Scholars, a private university in Dhaka. [1] He also wrote poetry, and in 2024 published a collection under a pen name. [1, 3]

By the time of the uprising, then, his public life had already begun: years of campus politics, debating and teaching lay behind the organiser who would become known across the country in 2024.

In the aftermath of the uprising Hadi co-founded Inqilab Moncho, a name rendered in English as “Platform for Revolution”: a youth-led socio-political platform that grew out of the protest movement. [1, 4] He served as its spokesperson and convener. [1]

As Hadi set them out, the platform’s aims were to defend Bangladesh’s independence and sovereignty, to secure accountability for the killing of unarmed protesters, and to introduce reforms that would prevent a return to authoritarian rule. [1]

Inqilab Moncho worked alongside other youth and civil-society groups, sometimes referred to as the “July Unity” coalition, in pressing for justice for the July killings. Their demands included a constitutional ban on the Awami League over its alleged role in atrocities. [1]

Hadi led rallies calling for the trial of those responsible for killing protesters and for the Awami League to be barred from future elections. At a “martyrs’ assembly” at Shahbagh in Dhaka he issued an ultimatum: if the demands were not met within 100 days, a “March for Bangladesh” would set out towards the national Secretariat. [1]

Through 2025 he remained on the streets, leading protests that urged the government to outlaw the Awami League formally. Under his leadership Inqilab Moncho also campaigned against what it called “Indian hegemony” in Bangladesh’s affairs. [1]

Justice for July

From the uprising onwards he demanded justice for the protesters who had been killed, and accountability for their deaths was one of Inqilab Moncho’s stated aims. [2, 1] He described Sheikh Hasina’s government as “fascist” and “autocratic”, and portrayed it as having betrayed the country’s democratic ideals. [2]

The Awami League

He campaigned for the Awami League to be banned and barred from future elections, a demand he and Inqilab Moncho’s allies tied to the party’s alleged role in atrocities. [1]

India and sovereignty

Criticism of India was a constant in his politics. He alleged that India had propped up Hasina’s government for fifteen years, and he opposed political groups he regarded as aligned with New Delhi’s interests. [2, 5] In an Inqilab Moncho statement he described the struggle as one against “Indian hegemony”, which he presented as neo-colonial interference. [5]

The established parties and the interim government

His criticism was not confined to the Awami League. He accused the BNP, and the interim government, of “failing to free themselves from Indian control”. [2]

Faith and the language of sacrifice

His public statements drew on religious language and on the idea of martyrdom. His post about the threats against him in November 2025, quoted in chapter 8, invoked God, prayed for “a martyr’s death with a smile” and declared that “Allah will create countless Hadis on this land”. [11]

A new Bangladesh

By late 2025 his rallies were organised around his call for “a new Bangladesh free from domination”. [12]

The descriptions of Hadi published around the time of his death differ sharply depending on who was speaking. This project adopts none of them. Words such as “martyr”, “hero” or “radical” appear on this page only as quotations, attributed to the people who used them.

Supporters

Political allies spoke of integrity and courage. Mia Golam Parwar, secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, said Hadi had lived a “clean, honest and principled life” that inspired people across the country, and called him an “undaunted revolutionary fighter of July”. [12] The interim government’s chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus, called him a “fearless fighter”. [4]

Critics

In parts of the Indian press he was presented very differently. Indian outlets often described him as a “radical” youth leader because of his stance on India; the Deccan Chronicle’s profile was headlined “Who was Bangladeshi Radical Leader, Sharif Osman Hadi?”. [6] The Financial Express profile called him an “anti-India student leader”. [2]

Hadi announced that he would stand for Parliament as an independent candidate in the Dhaka-8 constituency (the Bijoynagar area) at the general election scheduled for February 2026. [5, 4]

Standing as an independent was consistent with his refusal to align with either of the established parties. Jacobin described the candidacy as a direct challenge to the entrenched political order. [10]

By December 2025 he was campaigning in the constituency. On Friday 12 December, after Jumu’ah prayers, he spoke at a mosque and handed out leaflets in the Paltan and Bijoynagar area. [11, 6]

He did not live to contest the election.

In November 2025 Hadi said publicly that he had received dozens of death threats, many of them, he said, from foreign phone numbers. He attributed the threats to Awami League loyalists. [11] This page records his account and his attribution as his own statements; it does not establish who sent the threats.

In the same post he wrote that he prayed for “a martyr’s death with a smile”, and that if he were killed, “Allah will create countless Hadis on this land … This angry voice of freedom can never be silenced.” [11]

He continued to campaign. In December he was handing out leaflets in Dhaka-8. [11]

News of his death brought thousands of people, most of them students, onto the streets of Dhaka in the early hours of 19 December. Many gathered at Shahbagh, demanding the arrest of his killers. [9, 5] Some carried banners asking “Who Killed Hadi?”. [10]

Some of the protests turned violent. That night the Dhaka offices of the newspapers Prothom Alo and The Daily Star were attacked and set on fire, and journalists were trapped inside until they were rescued. By 19 December unrest had spread to other cities. [5, 9, 10] Human Rights Watch, which condemned Hadi’s killing, also condemned the attacks on the press. [8]

In a televised address the chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus, called Hadi’s death “an irreparable loss for the nation” and said that “the country’s march towards democracy cannot be halted through fear, terror, or bloodshed.” [5] The interim government declared a day of state mourning for Saturday 20 December, with the national flag at half-mast on government and educational buildings and special prayers at mosques, temples, churches and pagodas. [4]

His body arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at about 6:05 p.m. on 19 December, and thousands of people lined the airport road. [13]

On 20 December his funeral prayer, the namaz-e-janaza, was held on Manik Mia Avenue in front of the National Parliament. [13] It was attended by Yunus, President Mohammed Shahabuddin, the military chiefs and representatives of almost every political party. Reuters described it as one of the largest funerals in recent Bangladeshi history. [8]

He was buried on the University of Dhaka campus, beside the grave of the national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, an honour Reuters described as rare. [8]

Condolences came from across the political spectrum. The acting chairman of the BNP said, “We are deeply saddened by the death of Sharif Osman Hadi … this is a great loss”, and the National Citizen Party and student organisations issued statements of mourning. [5] From abroad, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, urged “a prompt, impartial, thorough and transparent investigation into the attack that led to Hadi’s death”, [9] and the US Embassy and the British High Commission in Dhaka issued messages of condolence. [14, 13]

Acts of remembrance

The state marked his death with a day of mourning, a funeral prayer attended by the country’s leadership, and burial beside Kazi Nazrul Islam on the University of Dhaka campus. [4, 8] The interim government also directed that his widow and young daughter be taken under the state’s care. [4]

Memorial gatherings continued after the funeral. At a memorial prayer reported by BSS, Mia Golam Parwar of Jamaat-e-Islami called the funeral a historic tribute and claimed that “millions of people” had attended it. Hadi’s elder brother, Omar bin Hadi, also spoke at a memorial. [12]

In the words of supporters and officials

Inqilab Moncho announced his death on Facebook with the words: “In the struggle against Indian hegemony, Allah has accepted the great revolutionary Osman Hadi as a martyr.” [5] Muhammad Yunus called him an “immortal soldier in the struggle against fascism and hegemony” and urged the country’s young people to carry his vision forward. [4]

An unresolved demand

Within hours of his death, supporters were demanding the arrest and punishment of those who killed him. [5, 9] Where that demand stands today, and what the investigation and the courts have and have not established, is recorded with its sources in the Justice section.

Where the case stands →

Interpretations

What his life and death mean for Bangladesh remains contested. Analysts quoted at the time warned that his killing, and the violence that followed it, could deepen political divisions or disrupt the election. [5, 6] His supporters, and the interim government in its statements, presented him instead as a figure whose ideals the country should carry forward. [4, 12]

What can be documented is narrower than any of these claims: a life of thirty-two years, the positions he argued for in public, the threats he reported, and the ways in which people have chosen to remember him. This biography will be revised as that record is verified.