Arsonists target Bangladesh newspapers after student leader’s death
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After Mr Sharif Osman Hadi died in hospital on Dec 18, his supporters gathered in Dhaka demanding that the killers be brought to justice.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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DHAKA - Firefighters pulled journalists from their burning newsroom on Dec 19 after the building was set ablaze during violent demonstrations in Bangladesh’s capital.
Thousands of protesters were brought to the streets by the assassination of a youth leader
A key figure in the 2024 uprising, Mr Sharif Osman Hadi, 32, was shot by masked gunmen while leaving a mosque in Dhaka last week.
After he died in hospital on Dec 18, his supporters gathered in the city demanding that the killers be brought to justice.
Several buildings, including those housing leading newspapers Prothom Alo and the Daily Star, were set on fire and vandalised, according to the authorities.
The burnt and vandalised office of newspaper Prothom Alo, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Dec 19.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Staff trapped in the Daily Star newsroom described being unable to escape as the building filled with smoke.
“I can’t breathe any more. There’s too much smoke. I am inside. You are killing me,” reporter Zyma Islam wrote on her Facebook page.
Firefighters managed to bring the blaze under control at 1.40am (3.40am Singapore time), with 27 employees rescued from the smouldering building.
Consulting editor Kamal Ahmed told AFP: “For the first time in the newspaper’s history, the publication had to be halted.”
At Prothom Alo, executive editor Sajjad Sharif said he was “deeply saddened” that the newspaper could not be published due to vandalism and arson.
“This attack is not merely an attack on Prothom Alo and the Daily Star, it’s an attack on freedom of the press, expression, dissent and diversity of opinion,” he said.
Critics of the newspapers, the largest in the South Asian country, accuse them of favouring neighbouring India, where Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has taken refuge since quitting in 2024
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was alarmed by the violence against the press.
“CPJ is monitoring the situation and urges Bangladeshi authorities to ensure the safety of news outlets and journalists, and to hold those responsible accountable,” it said in a statement.
Mr Hadi, a leader of student protest group Inqilab Mancha, was also an outspoken critic of India.
After he was shot in Dhaka on Dec 12, he was airlifted to Singapore
Inqilab Mancha distanced itself from the violence that erupted at the Dhaka protests, blaming opportunists for trying to derail the demonstrations.
“They essentially want to turn Bangladesh into a dysfunctional state through vandalism and arson,” the group said in a statement posted on social media.
“They want to endanger the independence and sovereignty of this country.”
Bangladeshi police have launched a manhunt for Mr Hadi’s shooters, releasing photographs of two key suspects and offering a reward of five million taka (S$52,800) for information leading to their arrest. AFP
