Friday, 19 December 2025
Friday, 19 December 2025
Tension gripped Bangladesh on Friday morning following a night of widespread unrest triggered by the death of prominent student uprising leader Sharif Osman Hadi with authorities deploying heavy security at sensitive locations including Indian diplomatic missions.
No fresh violence was reported on Friday morning.
Massive security, including army personnel, was deployed outside the Indian Assistant High Commission in Chattogram, where protesters had staged a sit-in around 11pm local time on Thursday.
Senior officials assured the assistant high commissioner of full security after demonstrators hurled bricks and stones at the residence around 1:30am, though no damage was reported.
Police used tear gas and baton charges to disperse the crowd and detained 12 protesters.
A group called July 36 Mancha also announced a march towards the Indian Assistant High Commission in Dhaka on Friday, demanding the return of what it termed “fugitive accused”, including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Death confirmation triggers unrest at night
The relative calm on Friday followed one of the most violent nights Bangladesh has witnessed in recent years, after chief adviser Muhammad Yunus confirmed late Thursday that Inquilab Mancha leader Hadi had died while undergoing treatment at a Singapore hospital.
Hadi, a candidate in the February 12 general elections, had been shot in the head by masked gunmen in Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area last week while launching his campaign and died after six days on life support.
Media houses targeted in Dhaka
Soon after confirmation of Hadi’s death, mobs went on the rampage across Dhaka and other cities, attacking media houses, political offices, cultural institutions and private residences, triggering widespread vandalism, arson and road blockades.
One of the most serious incidents occurred at Karwan Bazar in Dhaka, where the offices of English-language daily The Daily Star and Bangla daily Prothom Alo were attacked and set on fire. Visuals showed extensive damage to both buildings.
According to journalists, newsroom staff at The Daily Star were alerted by a phone call that a mob, after vandalising Prothom Alo, was heading towards their building. As staff attempted to evacuate, the crowd reached the ground floor, vandalised the premises and set it on fire, forcing journalists to flee to the rooftop as thick smoke filled the building.
Journalists trapped, dramatic rescue
Twenty-eight people were trapped on the 10th floor of The Daily Star building. A journalist recounted that a canteen worker attempting to escape using an external fire-exit ladder was caught and beaten by the mob upon reaching the ground.
Fire Service personnel extinguished the blaze on the lower floors, and four firefighters climbed to the rooftop to evacuate those trapped. With attackers still vandalising the building below, staff initially refused to come down.
During the ordeal, senior journalist Zyma Islam posted on Facebook: “I can't breathe. So much smoke. I'm inside. You are trying to kill me.” Another journalist said firefighters later became stranded themselves.
Editors’ Council President and New Age editor Nurul Kabir and photographer Shahidul Alam tried to intervene but Kabir was harassed, verbally abused as an “Awami League agent”, jostled and had his hair pulled, according to videos circulating online.
After army personnel opened one side of the staircase, attackers surged upward, resuming vandalism. Eventually, journalists were evacuated through the fire-exit staircase and taken out from the rear of the building around 3:45 am. At least 25 The Daily Star journalists were rescued after being trapped for over four hours.
Recalling the night, one journalist said: “We were lucky — we narrowly escaped a major disaster today. I don't know where this country is headed.”
Newspapers halt publication
Following the attacks, both Prothom Alo and The Daily Star announced they would not publish Friday editions. BBC Bangla reported that online operations at both outlets were also nearly paralysed after all staff were ordered to evacuate.
Attacks spread beyond media
Unrest spread across Dhaka and other cities. In Dhanmondi, the cultural institution Chhayanaut was vandalised and torched. The ancestral house of Bangladesh’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was vandalised again, and Awami League offices were attacked in several parts of the country.
In Chattogram, protesters torched the residence of former city mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury (Nowfel). Road blockades were reported in districts including Barisal and Jhalakathi, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded, as protesters raised slogans against India and the Awami League.
Student protests and anti-India slogans
Student protests erupted in Dhaka and elsewhere, with gatherings at Shahbagh led by student organisations and road blockades by Jagannath University students in Old Dhaka.
Late Thursday night, the National Citizen Party (NCP), an offshoot of Students against Discrimination, joined a mourning procession on the Dhaka University campus. Supporters chanted anti-India slogans and alleged Hadi’s assailants had fled to India.
Addressing the gathering, NCP leader Sarjis Alm said: “The interim government, until India returns assassins of Hadi Bhai, the Indian High Commission to Bangladesh will remain closed. Now or Never. We are in a war!”
Appeals for restraint, state mourning announced
Amid the escalating violence, Inquilab Mancha issued a late-night Facebook appeal urging restraint. “As the February elections approach, consider who truly benefits if unrest is created in the country,” the statement said.
In a televised address, Chief Adviser Yunus vowed swift justice, saying, “No leniency will be shown” to the killers, and appealed for calm: “I sincerely call upon all citizens – keep your patience and restraint.” He also said, “His passing represents an irreplaceable loss to the nation's political and democratic sphere.”
The interim administration has declared Saturday a day of state mourning in honour of Hadi, with national flags to be flown at half-mast and special prayers planned, as security forces remain on high alert ahead of the February 12 elections.
