Bangladeshi newspaper staff ‘out of breath’ after office fire

Staff at two of Bangladesh’s leading newspapers said they were “breathless” after protesters outraged by the death of a prominent activist set fire to their offices on Thursday.

Sharif Osman Hadi emerged as a key figure after his ouster amid anti-government protests last year former prime minister sheikh hasinaHe was shot in Dhaka last week and died of his injuries on Thursday.

Hundreds of protesters stormed the office On Thursday evening, British newspaper The Daily Star and Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo reported that the demonstrations continued into the next day.

The Daily Star said in a statement: “This is one of the darkest days for independent journalism in Bangladesh.”

Consulting editor Kamal Ahmed told the BBC that the Daily Star would be unable to publish its print edition on Friday for the first time in 35 years and would be “temporarily unavailable”.

“Twenty-eight of our colleagues were trapped on the roof of the building for several hours… gasping for fresh air,” Ahmed said. “They were rescued only after additional military reinforcements arrived.”

No one was seriously injured, but when BBC Bangla visited on Friday, much of the building was completely charred. Smoke can still be seen billowing from the Prothom Alo building.

The interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus condemned the violence and vowed to bring those responsible to justice.

“An attack on journalists is an attack on truth itself,” the group said in a statement on Friday.

The country is undergoing a “historic democratic transition” that must not be undermined by “a few who thrive on chaos and reject peace,” the report said.

Bangladesh is due to hold elections next February, the first since Hasina’s ouster.

It was unclear why hundreds of protesters targeted The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, two newspapers long considered secular and progressive. As a result, they were frequently attacked during Hasina’s rule.

However, both newspapers have remained critical of some of the interim government’s policies since the July 2024 uprising, which may have angered supporters of the Yunus government.

Other prominent buildings, including the former home of the country’s first president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Hasina’s father), were also vandalized and set on fire on Thursday.

Hadi, 32, is a senior leader of the student protest group Inqilab Mancha and a member of the youth movement to replace Hasina.

He has also been an outspoken critic of neighboring India, where Hasina remains in self-exile.

Following last year’s protests, Hadi appeared regularly on various media shows and quickly attracted a wide following – and a steady stream of opponents.

Hadi had planned to run as an independent candidate in next February’s elections, but was shot dead a day after authorities announced the date for the vote.

On December 12, he was shot dead by masked assailants as he left a mosque in Dhaka. He succumbed to his injuries in a Singapore hospital.

Yunus called Hadi’s death an “irreparable loss for the country” and said it was a premeditated attack by those plotting to “sabotage” the election.

“Fear, terror or bloodshed cannot stop the country’s progress towards democracy,” he said in a televised address on Thursday.

The interim government declared Saturday a national day of mourning.

The investigation is ongoing and several people are in custody in connection with the shooting.

After weeks of student-led protests, Hasina fled to India in August 2004, ending 15 years of increasingly authoritarian rule.

November, She was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity Found guilty of allowing deadly force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the riots.