Violence flares up again in Bangladesh after the death of fundamentalist leader Sharif Usman Hadi, many media organizations on target

Dhaka, 19 December. Violence broke out in Bangladesh after the death of Sharif Usman Hadi, spokesperson of the radical group Inquilab Manch. During this period, there are reports of arson in many media institutions. Hadi died in a hospital in Singapore after fighting for his life for six days. Addressing the nation on Thursday night, Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser to the interim government, confirmed Hadi’s death, Bangladeshi media outlet BSS reported. The official Facebook page of Inquilab Manch also announced this news on Thursday night.

Hadi, a potential independent candidate from Dhaka-8 constituency in the February elections, was shot in the head in front of everyone in Bijoynagar on December 12. Miscreants riding a motorcycle opened fire on Hadi when he was traveling in a rickshaw in the Box Culvert area of ​​Bijoynagar in Dhaka. Sharif Usman Hadi was admitted to Evercare Hospital in Dhaka in critical condition, from where he was taken to Singapore for better treatment on Monday. On Friday morning, hours after the news of Hadi’s death, an angry mob set fire to the building of Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star in Caravan Bazaar in Dhaka. Six fire brigade units were sent to control the fire.

During this time, many employees including journalists were trapped inside the building. They were evacuated safely. Bangladesh Army troops were deployed to secure the area, while the crowd stood on the other side of the road. In another similar incident, a group of people marched from Shahbagh to Caravan Bazaar in the capital, where they surrounded the building of Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo and protested. The police deployed at the spot tried to pacify the protesters, but failed to control the situation.

The attack began late Thursday night, when protesters brought sticks and rods. They vandalized the office and broke most of its windows. Around midnight, a group of protesters broke into the office, threw furniture and important documents on the road and set it on fire, Bangladeshi daily, Dhaka Tribune reported. According to a journalist from Prothom Alo, many reporters and employees are currently trapped inside the office due to increasing tension in the area.

Meanwhile, Jatiya Chhatra Shakti, the student wing of the National Citizen Party (NCP), protested in Dhaka. They burned the effigy of interim government interior adviser Jahangir Alam Choudhary and demanded his resignation over Hadi’s failure to arrest his attackers and the ‘deteriorating situation of public security’. “We are not making any demand for the arrest of Jahangir as he is unfit for the post. You cannot make demands from an irresponsible home adviser,” Dhaka Tribune quoted Zahid Ahsan, president of Jatiya Chhatra Shakti, as saying. Bangladesh has witnessed an alarming increase in violence and deterioration in the law and order situation during the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus.