We always knew that the upcoming election in Bangladesh would be challenging, with the ousted regime and its leaders living comfortably as fugitives from justice in India choosing the path of violence and disruption over reconciliation.
The assassination of independent candidate and youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi, a despicable and cowardly act, shows how far those who oppose progress and change will go to harm Bangladesh at this crucial moment. Hadi was a breath of fresh air in the country’s political landscape, a young, forward-looking leader running an independent campaign who called for a new type of politics.
In such a dark moment, it was heartening to see how the vast majority of Bangladeshis—including rival political parties, the government, and the populace at large—came together to demonstrate unity in the face of these attacks on democracy and the nation itself. The Chief Adviser, Professor Muhammad Yunus, brought together the leaders of all the major parties, and called for a national day of mourning to coincide with Hadi’s funeral.
In the aftermath of Hadi succumbing to the injuries sustained in the attack, there were well-crafted and received statements by leaders of the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, and the National Citizens Party. Each in their own way called for combating violence and bringing the nation together in an effort to honor the 32-year-old martyr. Chief Adviser Yunus powerfully expressed the sentiment of the nation when he said, “Today, we have come to promise you [Hadi] that we will fulfill what you stood for.”
Many suspected that the Awami League was behind Hadi’s brutal murder. The leading suspect was a leader of the party’s much-hated student wing, and is believed to have fled to India. Shayan Khan, editor of the Dhaka Courier, expressed the disgust of many with the Awami League in a mournful and angry Facebook post in which he wrote, “You [the Awami League] come up from behind and shoot someone in the head, you are nothing but spineless lunatics. You haven’t the slightest idea of what it takes to be courageous. It is your essential cowardice, that defines everything from your foreign policy to your party culture, that made you so contemptible.”
Retired American diplomat Jon Danilowicz, in a powerful article in Counterpoint, added, “The insensitive reactions from the former regime’s supporters at home and abroad only strengthened the belief that they were responsible for the attack.”
While a few have regrettably responded to this tragedy by attacking the Daily Star and Prothom Alo, two leading newspapers, most Bangladeshis remain focused on ensuring a free and fair election on February 12.
Tragically, there was also a brutal killing of a Hindu factory worker in Mymensingh, which the government condemned as all people of goodwill should. Several men have been arrested in connection with this horrific act. Those who perpetrate these crimes are simply playing into the hands of anti-Bangladesh forces inside and outside the country. They must stop. But incidents like this must be seen in context. While every murder is one too many—whether it be of a Hindu, Muslim or Christian—the rate of killings of Hindus in Bangladesh is actually lower than for adherents of other religions. Once again, Dhaka Courier editor in chief Shayan Khan shed light on the truth when he wrote on his Facebook page, “Only 23 Hindus have been murdered so far in 2025. I say ‘only’ because till September 30, according to police data, the total number of murders [in the country] was 2,911. Which means Hindus, who comprise 8% of the country’s population, comprise less than 1%, yes LESS THAN 1%, of the total number of murder victims, this year. If anything, their lives are disproportionately safe rather than endangered. And the number of Hindus killed for communal reasons, as a proportion, is almost negligible.”
Sadly, hysterical commentators in India and elsewhere ignore such useful context and claim, implausibly, that a “Hindu genocide” is taking place in Bangladesh this year.
At moments like this, the loudest voices tend to drown out those of the public at large. But it is important to recall the results of the recent International Republican Institute poll. It showed that 69% of the public was supportive of the Interim Government, and that 89% of the population was either very likely (66%) or somewhat likely (23%) to vote in February. An impressive 80% of those polled said that they thought the election would be free and fair.
Even at a moment like this when Indo-Bangladesh relations remain fraught, Zafar Sobhan, a leading Bangladeshi journalist, had a profoundly important article published in The Wire, an Indian media company. He argued for honoring Hadi by not allowing his killers to realize their goal of destabilization. He wrote, “Let us honor the memory of our fallen brother [Hadi] by ensuring that his death will not divide us and provide aid and comfort to his killers and their allies.
“From the very day of Hasina’s fleeing,” Sobhan continued, “the Awami League and its allies in the Indian media and social media had tried to paint a picture of Bangladesh descending into a Hobbesian nightmare of chaos and violence that was utterly at odds with the reality on the ground.
“After a rocky start due to the fact that the police force has largely disappeared and the nation’s administration lay in shambles, the interim government was able to pick up the reins and quietly bring something resembling normalcy back to the country.”
He concluded with a call to patriotic action, “Now is the time to bury our differences and join hands, and show that Bangladesh is still the great country that won its Liberation through bitter war in 1971 and overthrew a dictator in a people’s revolution in 2024, and that we stand together, and that together we will forge a future and create a country worthy of our martyrs, of whom Hadi is now one.
“Let us honor the memory of our fallen brother by ensuring that his death will not divide us and provide aid and comfort to his killers and their allies. Let us honor his memory by giving back to the people their long-suppressed voice on [election day] February 12, 2026.”
Most recently, five members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives wrote a letter to Chief Adviser Yunus about the upcoming election in Bangladesh. It correctly noted that the 2018 and 2024 elections held under the Awami League were not free and fair (to say the least!) and that the security services under the Awami League killed 1,400 protesters and bystanders during July-August 2024. It concluded with a rather wishy-washy statement that excluding any particular party is inconsistent with principles such as freedom of association and individual rather than collective responsibility.
The most curious aspect of the letter is its timing. Why would such a small number of Congresspeople write about the Bangladeshi election now, when all the key elements of the election have already been determined, rather than months ago when they could theoretically have had influence on the process? One can surmise the this letter is simply an effort to appease the powerful paid lobbyists that have been hired by Awami League leaders hiding in the United States without actually inserting themselves into Bangladesh’s election process in a meaningful way. It is also noteworthy that neither the chairman of the committee nor its influential Indian-American member Pramila Jayapal are signatories.
