Dhaka, Dec. 22 -- The crowd that gathered around the funeral of Inqulab Mancho leader Osman Hadi was not merely a moment of mourning; it was a political signal. In Bangladesh, where formal democratic channels are often narrowed and elections are deeply contested, crowds speak a language of their own. The message this one conveyed should not be ignored-least of all by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
At first glance, such gatherings are easy to dismiss as emotional outbursts rather than electoral indicators. Indeed, history shows that funeral crowds rarely translate neatly into votes. Yet to reduce this moment to grief alone would be a mistake. The turnout reflected a deeper undercurrent of public anger, frustration, and yearning for alter...