Violent Protests Erupt in Bangladesh Following Youth Leader's Death
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Violent protests erupted in Dhaka, Bangladesh, early on Friday following the announcement of the death of twenty-two-year-old youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi. Hadi, a key figure in the pro-democracy movement, died in a Singapore hospital after being injured in an assassination attempt on December twelfth, when he was shot by masked assailants as he left a mosque.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets demanding justice and the arrest of Hadi's killers, resulting in several incidents of arson, including fires at the buildings housing the Daily Star and Prothom Alo newspapers, with reports of staff members trapped inside.
Zyma Islam, a reporter for the Daily Star, posted on Facebook about being trapped in the burning building, stating, 'I can't breathe anymore. There's too much smoke.' The fire at the Daily Star was controlled by firefighting officials by one forty a.m. local time, although twenty-seven employees remained inside.
The protests spread to multiple cities, including Chattogram, where demonstrators attacked the residence of a former minister and blocked a key highway. In response to Hadi's death, interim government leader Muhammad Yunus confirmed the loss as irreparable, stating, 'The nation's march toward democracy cannot be halted through fear, terror, or bloodshed.' The Bangladeshi police have launched a manhunt for Hadi's shooters, offering a reward of five million taka, approximately forty-two thousand dollars, for information leading to their arrest.
Hadi was a prominent leader in the student protest group Inqilab Mancha and had been vocal against the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is currently in self-imposed exile in India after being ousted during last year's uprising.
The protests and violence come as Bangladesh prepares for the national elections scheduled for February twenty-six, twenty twenty-six, amid ongoing tensions between the ruling Awami League and opposition parties, particularly the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by Khaleda Zia.