Key points about protests in Bangladesh
- Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Dhaka after the death of youth leader Sharif Usman Hadi.
- Hadi was a key figure in the 2024 mass uprising that toppled former prime minister Sheikh Hasina
- He died in a Singapore hospital on Thursday after being shot by assassins last week
- After the news of Hadi’s death, the mob set fire to the offices of two major newspapers.
Violent protests broke out in Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh after the death of prominent activist Sharif Usman Hadi was announced on Thursday evening.
The protesters are demanding the arrest of Hadi’s killers.
Hadi died in a Singapore hospital on Thursday. A 32-year-old man was receiving advanced treatment there after being shot in the head by a masked man riding on the back of a motorcycle on December 12.
He was one of the most prominent figures of the 2024 rebellion that ended the autocratic rule of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and forced her to flee to India.
What do we know so far about the Bangladesh protests?
Groups of protesters stormed the offices of two major Bangladeshi, Bengali-language newspapers Prothom Aloi and english language daily star,
Hadi was a vocal critic of India, where Hasina is in self-imposed exile, and protesters accused the newspapers of serving Indian interests in the Muslim-majority country.
The mob set fire to two newspaper buildings, trapping journalists and other staff inside.
Firefighters rescued several people using ladders, and army troops were later deployed in front of the buildings amid protests.
Zaima Islam, A daily star The reporter said that she was trapped inside the burning building.
“I can’t breathe anymore. There’s too much smoke. I’m inside. You’re killing me,” she wrote on her Facebook page.
The house of India’s Deputy Ambassador to Bangladesh was also surrounded by hundreds of people, who were trying to protest by staging a sit-in. According to local news reports, police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Meanwhile, footage from private broadcaster Jamuna TV showed protesters used bulldozers to demolish the regional office of Hasina’s Awami League in the northern city of Rajshahi.
Similar protests were also reported in the port city of Chattogram and the southern city of Khulna.
In a televised address, Bangladesh’s interim administration chief Muhammad Yunus announced special prayers at mosques on Friday and a day of mourning on Saturday. He urged the protesters to remain calm.
Yunus said, Hadi’s death is an irreparable loss for the country.
Who was Sharif Osman Hadi and why was he shot?
Hadi, a senior leader of the student protest group Inquilab Manch, was running for a parliamentary seat in the 2026 national election in February.
On December 12, when he was traveling in a rickshaw, he was shot by masked assailants riding a motorcycle.
He was taken to a Singapore hospital for treatment earlier this week, but died on Thursday.
“Despite the best efforts of doctors…Mr. Hadi succumbed to his injuries,” Singapore’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. statement On Thursday.
It said it was assisting Bangladeshi authorities in repatriating his body.
What do we know about the assassination of Sharif Osman Hadi?
Bangladeshi police say they have identified both the attacker and the motorcyclist and believe both suspects crossed into neighboring India illegally.
Authorities have also offered a reward of five million taka (about $42,000, €36,000) for information leading to his arrest.
Interim leader Yunus described the shooting as a pre-planned attack by a powerful network aimed at derailing the February elections.
A few weeks before his firing, Hadi said he was receiving death threats as well as threats to burn down his house and rape family members.
Edited by: Shawn Sinico