Meanwhile, in an unprecedented show of grief and solidarity, hundreds of thousands of people filled the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises on Saturday (Dec. 20) to bid farewell to Hadi, the slain spokesperson of cultural institute Inqilab Moncho, and a key figure of the July uprising, who was also running as an independent candidate from the Dhaka-8 constituency in the upcoming election. The vast 215-acre parliament complex could not hold the sea of mourners, with crowds spilling over onto the adjacent Manik Mia Avenue, one of the widest roads in the city.

The janaza became international news, and was generally held to be the largest the country has seen since the death of former President Ziaur Rahman. Crowd size estimates using advanced mathematical tools estimated 10-12 lakh people were in attendance, including representatives from foreign missions based in Dhaka. At the same time though, it saw tensions between India and Bangladesh escalate, as angry crowds threatened to march to each other's consular offices in Kolkata, Delhi and Dhaka.

Khoda Baksh Chowdhury, special assistant to the chief adviser for the Home Ministry, has resigned. His resignation letter has been accepted by the president. The chief adviser's press wing disclosed the information on Wednesday night (Dec. 24). A notification issued by the Cabinet Division said the president had accepted the resignation of Khoda Baksh Chowdhury, who had been appointed special assistant with the status of state minister and entrusted with exercising executive authority at the home ministry under the interim government.

In November last year, interim government chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus appointed three individuals as special assistants with the rank of state minister. They were tasked with assisting the advisers of the home, health and education ministries and were given executive authority in those ministries. Former inspector general of police Khoda Baksh Chowdhury was assigned responsibility for the Home Ministry. Khoda Baksh Chowdhury resigned against the backdrop of widespread public discussion about the country's law and order situation.

Over 30 men were sent to jail in connection with the vandalism, arson, and looting at the offices of The Daily Star and Prothom Alo in Dhaka city in wake of the July Uprising frontliner Osman Hadi losing his battle to survive an assassin's bullet in a Singapore hospital on the night of December 18. An unruly mob, incited by ex-journalist Elias Hossain through his social media accounts, attacked and set fire to the offices of the two leading newspapers. It sparked almost immediate outrage. Cultural institution Chhayanaut also came under attack.

On December 22, Mizanur Rahman, head of operations at The Daily Star, filed a case with Tejgaon Police Station against 350-400 unidentified people under multiple laws, including the Penal Code, Anti-Terrorism Act, Special Powers Act, and Cyber Security Ordinance. On the same day, Major (retd) Sazzadul Kabir, head of security at Prothom Alo, filed a similar case against 400-500 unidentified people over the attack at their Karwan Bazar office.

Some 740,000 voters, including more than 534,000 expatriates from different countries across the world, registered to vote through postal ballots in the national election and referendum scheduled for February 12, 2026. The Election Commission (EC) opened the 'Postal Vote Bd' app for Out-of-Country Voting (OCV) on November 19 and for the In-Country Postal Voting (ICPV) on December 17. They will remain open for the registration of all entitled voters till December 31.

Though the postal balloting system has been in the laws for a long time, it was never practiced in the previous elections. This is the first time the Election Commission has introduced an effective IT-supported hybrid postal balloting system, enabling expatriates, government staff who are posted outside their respective constituencies, polling personnel, and the persons who will be in the legal custody to exercise their franchise through a combination of digital registration and manual voting. As of Thursday evening, a total 740,412 voters were registered through the system.