With Bangladesh descending into chaos once again, major media houses in the country came under attack by mobs who were protesting over the death of student leader Sharif Osman Hadi in Singapore on Thursday night.
A prominent leader of the July Uprising which led to the ousting of Sheikh Hasina's government on August 5, 2024, Hadi was shot in the head by masked gunmen last week. He was flown to Singapore for advanced treatment but he succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment. Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser to Bangladesh’s interim government, confirmed his death in a televised address to the nation on Thursday night.
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Violent protests broke out soon after, with hundreds of students and citizens gathering at the Shahbagh intersection in the capital, near Dhaka University. The demonstrations were marked by slogans invoking Hadi’s name, with protesters vowing to continue their agitation and demanding swift justice.
Videos circulating on social media showed mobs vandalising the offices of the country’s largest daily newspaper, Prothom Alo, as well as The Daily Star at the capital's Karwan Bazar, near the Shahbagh intersection. Reports said they vandalised several floors while journalists and staff of the newspaper were trapped inside.
"Several hundred demonstrators reached the Prothom Alo office around 11pm and later surrounded the building,” PTI quoted a witness as saying. He added the protesters then set the The Daily Star office on fire.
Both newspapers are known for their passive support for Yunus and his interim government.
Who is Zyma Islam?
It was The Daily Star journalist Zyma Islam’s post on Facebook that caught everyone’s attention.
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“I can’t breathe anymore. There’s too much smoke. I’m inside. You are killing me,” she posted, highlighting the fact that the protesters set the building on fire with the staff trapped inside.
Reports say that around 25 staff were rescued from the media offices. A comment under her post said that she was rescued and is safe, though THE WEEK could not independently verify the development.
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Zyma is a senior reporter with The Daily Star, the country's leading English-language newspaper, and writes on human rights, state-backed corruption, and governance. According to bjim.org, she graduated from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is an alumna of Asian University for Women.
Interestingly, she played a critical role in documenting police violence during the 2024 student-led July Uprising that led to the ouster of Hasina. She has been a vocal critic of censorship in Bangladesh.