Who killed Hadi?

By Redowan Ibne Saiful Radical Islamist Osman Hadi’s killer (as stated by Zulkarnain Saer Khan Sami and former Dhaka University Shibir leader Qadr Uddin) is Faisal. Who is Faisal? How did Faisal become close to Hadi? The answer to this question was given earlier by Zulkarnain Saer: Faisal got connected with Hadi through a Jamaat leader, who is a doctor. A few days ago, Sami mentioned this in a Facebook post, although that post can no longer be found.

Now, let’s come back to the question: Who is Faisal? After August 5, Faisal established extensive dominance in the Mohammadpur area, including footpaths and it was under his control. He has been arrested several times for extortion. His relationship with Hadi goes back more than a year. Media claims that Faisal became associated with Hadi only 30 days before the murder are completely false. Faisal had been Hadi’s cashier for over a year; he handled many of Hadi’s financial matters.

The office of ‘Inqilab Manch’ was funded by Jamaat money. In addition, Jamaat leaders used to give Hadi money. Recently, a video went viral showing a Jamaat leader giving money to Hadi. The Jamaat leader is also a donor to NCP’s Hasnat. A few days after Hadi’s murder, Hasnat traveled to Feni in his car. Moreover, arrangements for Faisal’s bail twice were made under the leadership of Jamaat MP-candidate lawyer Shishir Monir. Even after Faisal was arrested on serious charges, his bail was mysteriously secured very quickly. It is also rumored that Hadi assisted in Faisal’s rapid bail.

Hadi was a Jamaat project. There was massive Jamaat investment behind Hadi’s Inqilab Manch. However, over the past few months, Hadi’s distance from Jamaat increased because Hadi was no longer serving Jamaat’s purpose and had become overly ambitious about his own politics.

Almost everyone around Hadi is connected to Shibir or Jamaat. On top of that, Hadi announced his candidacy in the Dhaka-8 constituency without consulting Jamaat. Naturally, Jamaat became quite angry with Hadi. In other words, a cold war was underway between Hadi and Jamaat.

So, just as Jamaat was involved in Hadi’s rise, Jamaat also nurtured Hadi’s killer. Isn’t that interesting? Even more interesting is that the video of Hadi’s murder was shot from a very clear angle and is of fairly high quality, though the killer’s face is not clearly visible. Let’s assume the killer is Faisal. Immediately after Hadi was killed, Shibir leader Sadik Qayem pointed fingers at the BNP, and another DUCSU leader verbally abused Mirza Abbas in Dhaka Medical College Hospital. At the same time, Shibir’s online troll networks began vilifying the BNP for its involvement in Hadi’s killings.

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Given Mirza Abbas’s popularity and local standing, Hadi could not compete with him at all. Mirza Abbas had no reason whatsoever to kill Hadi. Yet for the past two months, rumors circulated that Abu Shadik Kayem might be given the Dhaka-2 nomination by Jamaat.

Within moments of Hadi being shot, The Dissent; a Jamaat-funded portal—along with its journalist, former DU Shibir leader Qadr Uddin (who currently behaves as pro-BNP), and Sami began propaganda portraying Faisal as an Awami League leader, in order to save the BNP. Saer and Qadr Uddin both support the BNP and are effectively running PR campaigns for it. After that, BNP and Jamaat together began a policy of “Awami elimination,” spreading propaganda blaming the Awami League for Hadi’s murder. How the Awami League even entered this picture is still unclear.

A Jamaat leader introduced the killer to Hadi; a Jamaat leader (Shishir Monir) arranged the killer’s bail twice. So you do the calculation: who killed Hadi?

As soon as news of Hadi’s death spread, Jamaat–Shibir-affiliated and extremist religious groups began attacking Prothom Alo, The Daily Star, Udichi, and Chhayanaut, following calls by Jamaat–Shibir affiliates Ilyas and Pinaki. Incitement to violence was issued continuously, with Shibir leaders playing the biggest role. The Indian High Commission was also attacked. Meanwhile, Jamaat-favored NCP leaders Nasiruddin Patwary and Sarjis Alam kept inciting unrest on Facebook, calling for revolution.

Even if you don’t understand how these entities are connected to Hadi’s murder, the connection should be clear from these events. In other words, Jamaat and NCP planned to destabilize the country and launch a new “revolution” using news of Hadi’s murder. The BNP sensed this politics, and that very night Tarique Rahman hurriedly announced his return to Bangladesh, though Mirza Fakhrul had already said Tarique was coming. Tarique Rahman’s return became a headache for Jamaat and NCP, overturning their political calculations. Maximum efforts were made by Jamaat–NCP to stop Tarique’s return.

Notice that immediately after Hadi’s murder, demands were raised for home advisor Jahangir’s resignation, but the Yunus administration did not accept that demand. Instead, it removed Jamaat-linked Khoda Box from his position in the secretariat. This suggests the Yunus administration found some Jamaat involvement in Hadi’s murder; otherwise, they wouldn’t remove a Jamaat person. Meanwhile, Hadi’s brother blamed the interim government, and NCP leader Akhtar blamed the Yunus government for Hadi’s murder. Why did they suddenly blame the interim government?  It suggests Yunus is no longer listening to Jamaat and NCP. For his own safe exit, Yunus has aligned himself with Tarique Rahman. Additionally, incidents like the burning to death of Dipu Das and attacks on media and cultural centers have badly damaged Yunus’s international image.

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Then, on the night before Tarique Rahman’s return, NCP and Jamaat announced an alliance. Strange, isn’t it? They also strongly objected to Tarique Rahman’s extra security, but Yunus provided him with royal-level security.

Seeing the entire media and security apparatus focused on welcoming Tarique Rahman, Jamaat and NCP realized they were becoming politically irrelevant. As a result, yesterday they blocked Shahbagh demanding justice for Hadi—clearly to sabotage Tarique Rahman’s politics. They could have staged this sit-in before Tarique’s return, but they didn’t. Why now? Because Yunus is no longer acting according to their wishes. Currently, the media and almost every state organ is under BNP influence. Jamaat and NCP have no issue left to put Yunus on the back foot; now Hadi’s corpse is their only leverage.

So, the question is: Jamaat nurtured Hadi’s killer, Jamaat also nurtured Hadi, and now NCP is doing politics over Hadi’s dead body. Using Hadi’s death, anti-Jamaat media and cultural centers were destroyed; multiple Shibir leaders were seen in attacks, yet no one was arrested. There was even a plan to destabilize the country using Hadi’s funeral, but it failed after being exposed. Suddenly, Yunus began arresting militants. In other words, Jamaat has run out of cards.

Finally, what proof is there that the person seen in the murder video is actually Faisal? What proof is there that the photos shown after the shooting are of Faisal? Who knows if the real killer was allowed to escape beforehand? Could this be another Jamaat false-flag operation? What if someone else was under the helmet? Is Faisal being sacrificed like Joj Mia in 2004? If the killer is someone else, has that person been safely smuggled out or protected? Saer claims Faisal fled through the Mymensingh border, while the government says the Sylhet border. Whose account should we believe? Could Pakistani/Turkish agencies be involved? Is this another George Mia-style cover-up to shield the real killer? Many such questions are swirling.

Who benefits politically from Hadi’s murder? Jamaat, surely. Is there any political gain here for the BNP or the Awami League? Seeing the politics over Hadi’s body reminds me of the plot of the Kolkata Bengali film Kanamachi. Now the question is, aren’t those who are the killers also the ones who don’t truly want justice for Hadi? Who is sitting at Shahbagh? They are Jamaat–Shibir and their B-team, NCP. What is their objective, delaying elections or seeking justice? Notice that the Jamaat–NCP alliance was announced when it became clear that elections could no longer be stopped.

Find the answers. Will Hadi’s murder incident ever come out in public?

Redowan Ibne Saiful: Writer, activist