Bangladesh's media is confronting a perilous period, with the struggle for freedom of expression now overshadowed by journalists' concern for their personal safety, several leading newspaper editors have said.

The comments were made on Monday following mobs vandalising and setting fire to the offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star in Dhaka on Thursday night, trapping multiple journalists and staff inside for hours as police and fire services were initially prevented from reaching the sites.

"Freedom of expression is no longer the main issue. Now it is about the right to stay alive," Daily Star editor and publisher Mahfuz Anam said at a press conference attended by senior politicians, business leaders, and media owners.

The media in Bangladesh is facing a fight for survival, he added.

Anam noted that the attacks appeared intended to kill journalists and staff, rather than serve as protests against the newspapers themselves. "Otherwise, the mob would have told journalists to leave before setting the buildings on fire," he said.

Instead, 26-27 media workers were trapped on the rooftop of The Daily Star building while the fire brigade was denied access, Anam said. He also pointed to social media messages allegedly calling for journalists of the two dailies to be hunted down and killed at their homes.

Defending its delayed response, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said immediate action could have worsened the situation. "The reason we could not go into action there was to ensure that no human life was lost,” DMP Additional Commissioner Nazrul Islam told reporters.

The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus has stated that nine people have been arrested in connection with the attacks on the offices of the two newspapers and cultural organisations Chhayanaut and Udichi Shilpi Goshthi, which followed the death of radical right-wing youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi.

The attackers accused the newspapers of "serving the interests" of India and the deposed prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.

Hadi, a 32-year-old staunch critic of India, played a key role in last year’s pro-democracy uprising that led to the ouster of Hasina’s Awami League regime on August 5, 2024. The Inqilab Mancha spokesperson died while receiving treatment in Singapore on Thursday last week. Hadi had also been a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections.

While the interim government condemned the attacks, it described the perpetrators as fringe elements, a stance that drew criticism from rights groups and journalists who said authorities failed to prevent the violence despite prior appeals for protection.