The death on Thursday of a politically prominent student leader attacked in Bangladesh ignited a wave of unrest in Dhaka, the capital, with mobs setting newspaper offices ablaze in a nation with a shaky hold on democracy.
Sharif Osman bin Hadi, 32, died at a hospital in Singapore, where he had been flown for medical care. He had lain in critical condition for a week since being shot in the head on Dec. 12. As a student leader, Mr. Hadi had become an outspoken critic of the authoritarian rule of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose government collapsed in August 2024 after a monthslong standoff with a youth-led movement.
According to the U.N.’s fact-finding report, at least 1,400 protesters were killed last year by the security forces and members of Ms. Hasina’s Awami League party.
After Mr. Hadi’s death, protesters poured into the streets of Dhaka late Thursday night, demanding justice. Arsonists targeted not only newspapers but also the homes of several politicians in different cities.
“There’s too much smoke. I’m inside. You are killing me,” Zyma Islam, a young journalist, posted on Facebook. She was in the newsroom of The Daily Star, Bangladesh’s most read English newspaper, on Thursday night when a mob set fire to the building in central Dhaka.
Another journalist was waiting outside for a ride home at 11 p.m., he said, when “I saw a group marching to our office, chanting slogans against India.”
Ms. Islam and dozens of her colleagues eventually escaped. The headquarters of The Daily Star’s sister publication, the Bengali-language Prothom Alo, was attacked at the same time. Firefighters rescued another 28 people from its roof.
Ms. Hasina, who ruled Bangladesh with an iron grip for 15 years, fled to New Delhi last August and has been sheltered by the Indian government ever since. An interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, has been running Bangladesh while factions scramble for position. An election, which Ms. Hasina’s Awami League is barred from running in, is to be held on Feb. 12.
Mr. Hadi intended to run for Parliament as an independent candidate. He founded a cultural institution after Ms. Hasina’s downfall and led an innovative campaign of handing out leaflets at mosques after morning prayers. He appeared on talk shows criticizing both the Awami League and what he regarded to be India’s malign influence on his country.
He had spoken about the risks that came with his politics. “We only want that if someone shoots us dead, they are caught and brought to justice,” he told an interviewer recently.
Mr. Yunus announced Mr. Hadi’s death on national television on Thursday night, after the news began circulating over social media, and called for a day of mourning on Saturday.
A special national police force, notorious for brutality under Ms. Hasina’s rule, identified Faisal Karim Masud, a member of her party’s student wing, as the gunman last week but said it believed there were more people involved. The police force brought in the suspect’s parents, wife and friends for questioning but said he was still on the run.
Mr. Hadi’s friends have been pointing a finger at India since the day of the shooting. They claimed his assailants took refuge there. On Dec. 15, Hasnat Abdullah, another prominent student leader, said that if India shelters Mr. Hadi’s killers, Bangladesh should shelter India’s violent separatists.
Mr. Hadi’s friends said they would march to the Indian High Commission if the suspects were not returned to stand trial. India temporarily closed its main center for processing visa applications, citing security concerns. And Bangladesh’s acting government summoned India’s high commissioner in Dhaka to ask for help in finding Mr. Hadi’s killers.
In turn, the Indian authorities summoned Bangladesh’s high commissioner in New Delhi. India’s foreign ministry issued a statement, saying, “India completely rejects the false narrative sought to be created by extremist elements,” and lamenting that the government in Bangladesh had not “shared meaningful evidence with India regarding the incidents.”
In a parallel, earlier this week India accused Pakistan of having sponsored the men who shot 26 unarmed Indians in Kashmir in April 2025. Pakistan has accused India of supporting separatist fighters in its territory.
Other leaders of last year’s youth movement denied attacking the news buildings. Two of the best known, both of whom served as ministers in Mr. Yunus’s government, spoke against the violence, urging Bangladeshis to abstain from violence for the sake of their country’s reconstruction. Mahfuj Alam stood outside the Daily Star building on Thursday night, calling for peace in honor of Mr. Hadi.
“Sharif Osman bin Hadi stands for democratic politics and for the kind of politics that builds structure, the kind of politics that builds institutions,” Mr. Alam said. “Law and order should be maintained.”
The country’s political vacuum has made it a dangerous place. Ain o Salish Kendra, a local human-rights watchdog, reported that mob violence had killed at least 184 Bangladeshis this year.
Mr. Yunus denounced both the attacks against the newspapers and the murder of a member of the country’s Hindu minority, which the police reported on Friday.
Alex Travelli is a correspondent based in New Delhi, writing about business and economic developments in India and the rest of South Asia.
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