Bangladesh protesters demand arrest of student leader's killers
Protesters rallied across Bangladesh for a second straight day after the assassination of Sharif Osman Hadi, a key figure in last year's pro-democracy uprising.
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DHAKA: Protesters rallied across Bangladesh on Friday (Dec 19) for a second straight day, calling for the arrest of the gunmen who shot and killed a key figure in last year's pro-democracy uprising.
As news spread that 32-year-old student leader Sharif Osman Hadi died in hospital in Singapore on Thursday, crowds took to the streets in an outpouring of mourning and anger.
Several buildings were vandalised, including the offices of media outlets deemed to favour India - an old ally of Bangladesh's ousted leadership.
Protests were also held in the cities of Gazipur, Sylhet and Chattogram on Friday.
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Hadi, a staunch critic of India, was shot by masked gunmen while leaving a mosque in the capital Dhaka last week. He was initially wounded and flown to Singapore for treatment, but eventually succumbed to his wounds.
In Dhaka on Friday, protester Sajid Al Adeeb told AFP that "people have gathered here demanding the swift arrest of those who killed Hadi".
The 20-year-old student said the killers were "currently in India" - a claim which New Delhi has not commented on.
"I urge the government to take immediate and appropriate steps to arrest those responsible," he added.
"Above all, I want Hadi's ideals to live on."
Protests were also held in the cities of Gazipur, Sylhet and Chattogram on Friday.
Hadi's remains were brought to Dhaka on Friday evening ahead of a funeral planned for the following day.
"JUSTICE"
The customary funeral prayer will be performed on Saturday in front of the parliament building, the government said.
Hadi's body will then be placed at the central mosque of Dhaka University to allow people to pay their last respects before his burial there.
Amir Hossain, Hadi's brother-in-law, told AFP that the family wanted justice.
"We don't need anything except justice. The perpetrators must be punished," Hossain said.
United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement on Friday that "he was deeply troubled" by Hadi's killing.
"Retaliation and revenge will only deepen divisions and undermine the rights of all," he said.
"I urge the authorities to conduct a prompt, impartial, thorough and transparent investigation into the attack that led to Hadi's death, and to ensure due process and accountability for those responsible."
"CAN'T BREATHE"
Security has been beefed up in the capital with strict restrictions on flying drones around the parliament building.
Late on Thursday, people set fire to several buildings in Dhaka, including the offices of leading newspapers Prothom Alo and the Daily Star.
Critics accuse the publications of favouring neighbouring India, where Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has taken refuge since fleeing Dhaka in the wake of the 2024 uprising.
Staff trapped in the Daily Star newsroom said the building quickly filled with smoke.
"I can't breathe anymore ... You are killing me," reporter Zyma Islam wrote on Facebook, before firefighters managed to bring the blaze under control and rescue the employees.
Sajjad Sharif, executive editor at Prothom Alo, called it "an attack on freedom of the press, expression, dissent and diversity of opinion".
The interim government, led by the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, spoke to the editors of the two newspapers on Friday and condemned the vandalism.
The government also urged citizens to resist all forms of mob violence, which it said was committed by a few "fringe elements".
"CRITICAL MOMENT"
"This is a critical moment in our nation's history when we are making a historic democratic transition," a government statement said.
"We cannot and must not allow it to be derailed by those few who thrive on chaos and reject peace."
Protesters on Thursday also blocked a major highway and attacked the residence of a former minister in Chattogram, according to footage shown on local television.
On Wednesday, before Hadi's death, protesters demanding Hasina be returned to Bangladesh marched toward the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, in the latest sign of strained ties between the neighbours since the fall of her autocratic government.
Hadi, a leader of the student protest group Inqilab Mancha, was running for a parliament seat in the February 2026 national election.
Bangladeshi police said they had launched a manhunt for his killers, releasing photographs of two key suspects and offering a reward for information leading to their arrest.
Special Friday prayers were held across mosques, and Saturday was declared an official day of mourning in honour of the slain student leader.
The US embassy in Dhaka urged its citizens to remain vigilant and "remember that gatherings intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence".
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