Bangladesh newspaper staff ‘gasping for air’ as offices set ablaze

Workers at two main Bangladeshi newspapers say they have been left “gasping for air” as protesters, roused by the demise of a outstanding activist, set their workplaces alight.

Sharif Osman Hadi, who had emerged as a key determine after final yr’s anti-government protests that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was shot in Dhaka final week and died of his accidents on Thursday.

Hundreds of protesters stormed the offices of the English-language Every day Star newspaper and Bengali each day Prothom Alo on Thursday night time. The demonstrations prolonged into the next day.

“It is likely one of the darkest days for impartial journalism in Bangladesh,” the Every day Star stated in a press release.

For the primary time in 35 years, the Every day Star couldn’t publish its print version on Friday and will likely be “inoperable for some time”, consulting editor Kamal Ahmed advised the BBC.

“Twenty-eight of our colleagues have been trapped within the rooftop of the constructing for hours… They have been gasping for contemporary air,” Ahmed stated. “They have been rescued solely after extra army reinforcement got here.”

Nobody has been critically injured, however giant elements of the buildings have been fully charred when BBC Bangla visited on Friday. Smoke was nonetheless seen popping out of Prothom Alo’s constructing.

It’s unclear why the tons of of protesters focused the Every day Star and Prothom Alo, which have lengthy been considered secular and progressive. On account of that, they recurrently got here below fireplace throughout Hasina’s administration.

Nonetheless, for the reason that July 2024 rebellion, the 2 newspapers have maintained their crucial stance on a number of the insurance policies of the interim authorities, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which can have angered its supporters.

The interim authorities condemned the violence, vowing handy perpetrators “full justice”.

“Assaults on journalists are assaults on fact itself,” it stated in a press release on Friday.

The nation is making an “historic democratic transition”, it stated, which should not be derailed by “these few who thrive on chaos and reject peace”.

Different outstanding buildings, together with the house of the nation’s first president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was Hasina’s father, have been additionally vandalised and set on fireplace on Thursday.

Bangladesh is scheduled to carry elections subsequent February, the primary since Hasina’s ousting.

Hadi, 32, was a senior chief of the coed protest group Inqilab Mancha, and a part of the youth motion that toppled Hasina.

He was additionally a vocal critic of neighbouring India, the place Hasina stays in self-imposed exile.

Hadi made common appearances on varied media programmes after final yr’s protest and rapidly attracted a large following – in addition to a gradual pool of opponents.

Hadi had deliberate to contest in subsequent February’s election as an impartial candidate, however was shot someday after authorities introduced the date for the ballot.

He was gunned down by masked attackers whereas leaving a mosque in Dhaka on 12 December. He succumbed to his accidents at a hospital in Singapore.

Yunus known as Hadi’s demise “an irreparable loss for the nation” and known as it a premeditated assault by these conspiring to “derail” the election.

“The nation’s march towards democracy can’t be halted by way of worry, terror, or bloodshed,” he stated in a televised speech on Thursday.

The interim authorities has declared a day of nationwide mourning on Saturday.

Investigations are ongoing and a number of other individuals have been detained over the taking pictures.

Hasina fled to India in August 2024, following weeks of student-led protests, bringing an finish to fifteen years of more and more authoritarian rule.

In November, she was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity after being discovered responsible of permitting deadly drive for use in opposition to protesters, 1,400 of whom died through the unrest.