Violence erupts in Bangladesh after wounded youth leader dies
After the death of 32-year-old Sharif Osman Hadi was announced, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Dhaka to demand the arrest of his killers.
According to officials, several buildings in the capital, including those housing the country’s two leading newspapers, were set on fire, trapping staff inside.
Hadi was a key figure in last year’s uprising that ended prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic rule and led her to flee to India. He was running for a parliamentary seat in the February 2026 national elections.
Hadi was shot by masked assailants as he left a mosque in Dhaka on December 12. He was taken to a hospital in Singapore for treatment and died from his injuries on Thursday.
A spokesman for the Fire and Civil Defense force told AFP that at least three cases of arson were reported in Dhaka in the early hours of Friday after news of the deaths spread; These include the fire in the Daily Star building and the building where Prothom Alo newspaper is located.
Although the two newspapers are the largest in the South Asian country, protesters accused them of being aligned with neighboring India, where Hasina has sought refuge. Daily Star reporter Zima Islam said he was trapped in the burning building.
“I can’t breathe anymore. There’s too much smoke. I’m inside. You’re killing me,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Fire officials said the fire at the Daily Star building was brought under control at 01:40 (2040 GMT).
But 27 employees were still inside.
“We took shelter behind the building and we could hear them chanting slogans,” Star correspondent Ahmed Deepto told AFP, referring to the protesters.
According to local reports, the home of India’s deputy ambassador to Bangladesh was also surrounded by hundreds of people participating in the sit-in, but police fired tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd.
Protesters also blocked the main highway leading from the capital and attacked the home of a former minister in Chittagong, in the country’s southeast, according to footage shown on local television.
Protesters also attacked Chhayanaut, a center dedicated to Bengali culture in Dhaka.
‘An irreparable loss for the nation’
Earlier on Friday, Singaporean authorities announced that Hadi had died at a local hospital.
“Despite all the efforts of doctors… Mr. Hadi succumbed to his injuries,” Singapore’s foreign ministry said in a statement. he said, adding that he helped Bangladeshi authorities in repatriating his body.
The interim government in Dhaka, headed by Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus, confirmed Hadi’s death.
“His death is an irreparable loss for the nation,” Yunus said in his televised speech. he said.
“The country’s march towards democracy cannot be stopped by fear, terror or bloodshed.”
The government also announced special prayers in mosques on Friday and a half-day of mourning on Saturday.
Hadi, a senior leader of the student protest group Inqilab Mancha, has been an outspoken critic of India, where Hasina remains in self-imposed exile.
Manhunt for gunmen
Bangladeshi police, meanwhile, launched a manhunt to catch those who shot Hadi, releasing photos of two key suspects and offering a reward of five million taka (about $42,000) for information leading to their arrest.
Younis, an 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who led Bangladesh until the February 12 elections, described the attack as a pre-planned attack by a powerful network aimed at derailing the election.
Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a country of 170 million people, will vote directly for 300 MPs for its parliament, with another 50 to be elected from a women’s list.
The latest elections, held in January 2024, gave Hasina a fourth consecutive term and 222 seats in the Awami League, but were condemned by opposition parties as fraudulent.
There is a widespread prediction that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by three-time former prime minister Khaleda Zia, will win the upcoming elections.
Zia is in intensive care in Dhaka and his son and political heir Tarique Rahman is due to return from exile in England on December 25 after 17 years.
