Bangladesh is observing a national day of mourning ahead of the funeral of Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent leader of its 2024 student-led uprising, after his death triggered two days of protests across the country.Police wearing body cameras were deployed across the capital city, Dhaka, on Saturday as Hadi’s funeral was scheduled to begin at 2pm (08:00 GMT) at the South Plaza of Bangladesh’s parliament house, known locally as Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe Bangladeshi flag was flown at half-mast at all public and private buildings to mark the day of mourning.Although protests had largely cooled off by Saturday, media continued to report previously unknown incidents of violence as cultural institutions, newspapers and political buildings reeled from arson attacks and mob rushes earlier in the week in the latest turbulent chapter in the nation’s recent history.Daily newspaper Prothom Alo reported that the home of Anisul Islam Mahmud, president of the National Democratic Front party and chairman of a faction of the Jatiya Party, was vandalised and set on fire at about midnight Friday in Chattogram, Bangladesh’s second-largest city.Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the country’s main state-sponsored cultural centre, announced it would suspend all programming and exhibitions, newspaper The Daily Star said. The group cited security risks following arson attacks on Thursday on two of its organisations’ buildings.Both Prothom Alo and The Daily Star were also targets of ambushes that trapped dozens of employees inside and forced them onto the roof as flames engulfed the building of the latter. The publications ple …
