Violent protests erupted in Dhaka and several other cities in Bangladesh from Thursday night to Friday morning, following the death of Sharif Uddin Hadi, a leading figure of the revolutionary stage movement. Protesters chanted anti-India slogans outside the Indian High Commission.
Hadi, a prominent face of the "July Uprising" and spokesperson for the right-wing organization "Revolutionary Stage", died at a hospital in Singapore on Thursday night. He was shot in the head during an attack on December 12 in the Bijoy Nagar area of Dhaka while participating in an election campaign.
As news of Hadi's death spread, his supporters and radical students took to the streets, starting arson, vandalism, and targeting specific locations. The angry mob attempted to attack the Indian Assistant High Commissions in Khulna and Chittagong. In Chittagong, protesters marched towards the Indian High Commission building, broke through police barricades on Zakir Hussein Road, and staged a sit-in outside the compound. They chanted slogans such as "Boycott India", "Burn down Awami League dens", and "Hadi's blood will not go in vain".
In Dhaka, protesters arrived with bulldozers and demolished the remaining portion of the historic house of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhanmondi 32. Several offices and homes of Awami League leaders were also attacked or set on fire, including the house of former Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel in Chashma Hill and the house of former Dhaka-18 Awami League MP Habib Hasan's brother in Uttara.
Protesters vandalized and set fire to the offices of newspapers Daily Star and Prothom Alo in the Karwan Bazar area of Dhaka. Hundreds of protesters stormed the Prothom Alo building, smashing furniture, documents, and equipment, and then set them ablaze. The situation at the Daily Star office became extremely critical, with at least 20 journalists and staff members trapped on the roof amidst heavy smoke as the fire spread rapidly through the building. Firefighters faced severe difficulties in extinguishing the blaze, and the military was deployed to control the situation and rescue those trapped. The Tejgaon fire unit finally brought the fire under control at around 1:40 am.
Deputy Editor Subrata Roy, who was trapped along with his supporters, said, "There is too much smoke inside, it's hard to breathe even on the roof." Another reporter, Abdullah MD Abbas, appealed on social media, saying, "All my colleagues are on the roof, they can't breathe. Please pray for us." Later, military personnel helped secure the area and assisted in the rescue efforts. Officials have not issued any official statement on the incidents, and it is unclear if any arrests have been made.
The overall security situation in Bangladesh, diplomatic missions, journalists, and civil society organizations has raised severe concerns both domestically and internationally following these attacks. The situation on the streets was relatively calm on Friday morning, but citizens of the Muslim-majority South Asian country feared that violence could erupt again after Friday prayers.
32-year-old Sharif Uddin Hadi was the spokesperson for Revolutionary Stage and had been active in the student-led protests that toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government last year. Hadi was shot in the head by masked attackers during the launch of an election campaign in Dhaka last Friday. He was initially taken to a local hospital and later flown to Singapore for better treatment, where he died after six days on life support. Hadi was a vocal critic of India, while Revolutionary Stage describes itself on its website as a revolutionary cultural platform inspired by the spirit of rebellion.
Videos circulating on social media in Dhaka show the angry mob vandalizing the offices of the country's largest daily, Prothom Alo, and the Daily Star on Thursday night. Emotional slogans were chanted during the protests, invoking Hadi's name, as protesters vowed to continue their movement and demanded immediate justice.
Tension persisted in several areas, with additional police and paramilitary troops deployed to prevent further violence. According to the fire service, the blaze at the Daily Star building was brought under control, with military troops deployed on the scene and firefighters rescuing journalists trapped inside.
Bangladesh has been under an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus since August 2024, after a student-led uprising forced Sheikh Hasina to flee to India.
