Bangladesh: 50 hurt as police clash with far-right Inqilab Mancha activists

At least 50 activists of the ultra-right group Inqilab Mancha were injured in clashes with police in Bangladesh on Friday after they attempted to defy a prohibition on demonstrations while protesting the killing of their leader Sharif Osman Hadi.

The confrontation unfolded outside Jamuna — the official residence of interim government chief Muhammad Yunus — where protesters sought to breach security barricades following a sit-in nearby. Dhaka police responded with baton charges, sound grenades and water cannon to disperse the crowd after they tried to advance despite an earlier ban on rallies in the area.

Hadi, a prominent activist associated with the violent 2024 student-led street agitation known as the July Uprising that toppled the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, had been contesting the parliamentary election scheduled for 12 February. He was shot in the capital on 12 December while campaigning, and later died of his injuries.

Witnesses said riot police intensified action when protesters pushed against the barricades. Newspaper reports indicated more than 50 activists were wounded, including Inqilab Mancha member-secretary Abdullah Al Zaber. Anger over the police response spilled into the city centre, where activists blocked a key intersection in Shahbagh, bringing traffic to a halt.

In a statement, Dhaka Metropolitan Police said demonstrators were dispersed in a “fully lawful” manner and insisted no lethal force or gunfire had been used. Yunus’ office also dismissed allegations of excessive force.

“According to information received from doctors at the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, 23 people, including Inqilab Mancha secretary-general Abdullah Al Zaber, received treatment there. But the doctors confirmed that none of them received bullet wounds,” the government statement said.

The attempted march on Jamuna came despite the administration announcing a day earlier that it would seek a United Nations investigation into Hadi’s killing. Yunus’ press secretary Shafiqul Alam said the government planned to ask the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to lead the probe to ensure impartiality.

Following the clashes, the interim government reiterated that it was examining legal modalities for the international inquiry and would formally communicate with the UN agency on 8 February.

Authorities have already taken symbolic and legal steps after Hadi’s death. A national day of mourning was observed in his honour, and law adviser Asif Nazrul said the case would be transferred to a fast-track tribunal under the Speedy Trial Tribunal Act, which requires proceedings to conclude within 90 days after submission of the police report.

Security around Jamuna has been significantly tightened. Army troops equipped with armoured personnel carriers patrol alongside police, and on Friday the government deployed six platoons — nearly 180 personnel — of the paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh to reinforce vigilance.

Hadi’s killing last December triggered widespread unrest. Within hours of his death, supporters torched offices of newspapers Daily Star and Prothom Alo, attacked progressive cultural organisations including Chayanat and Udichi Shilpi Goshthi, and lynched Hindu factory worker Deepu Das in Mymensingh.

Political tensions remain high. Last month, Hadi’s brother Omar Hadi alleged at a protest rally that elements within the interim government were behind the assassination in an attempt to derail the polls. “Those who are in power when Osman Hadi was killed, you won't be able to evade the responsibility,” he said.

The government has provided financial assistance of Taka 2 crore to Hadi’s family and appointed his elder brother Abu Bakar Siddiq to a diplomatic posting at the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Birmingham, UK.

With PTI inputs