Protests Erupt in Bangladesh Following Killing of Youth Leader

Fri Dec 19 2025 10:56:52 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

The death of youth protest leader Sharif Osman Hadi has triggered widespread violence in Bangladesh, including protests and vandalism.

After the death of youth protest leader Sharif Osman Hadi, shot by masked attackers, violence erupted in Bangladesh as supporters gathered to protest, leading to clashes and vandalism of media offices. The interim government has declared a national mourning and promised justice amid rising political tensions.

Violence has erupted in Bangladesh following the death of a prominent leader of the youth movement that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Sharif Osman Hadi was shot by masked attackers while leaving a mosque in Dhaka last week and succumbed to his injuries on Thursday while being treated in Singapore.

The shooting came a day after Bangladeshi authorities announced a date for the first elections since the uprising in 2024, which Hadi had been planning to contest as an independent candidate.

As news of his death emerged on Thursday, hundreds of his supporters gathered in a square in the capital city to protest.

Later, demonstrators vandalized the offices of prominent Bangladeshi newspapers The Daily Star and Prothom Ali, with one building set alight. A police officer remarked, Hundreds of people have gathered here and carried out the attack. Troops were deployed to the scene, while firefighters rescued journalists trapped inside the building.

Hadi, 32, was a senior leader of the student protest group Inqilab Mancha and an outspoken critic of neighboring India - where Hasina remains in self-imposed exile.

Bangladeshi political parties have mourned his death and urged the interim government to bring the perpetrators to justice. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who heads the caretaker government, called Hadi's death an irreparable loss for the nation in a TV address, stating that the country’s march towards democracy cannot be halted through violence.

A national day of mourning was declared by the interim government for Saturday. Yunus emphasized that any form of violence intended to disrupt the upcoming elections would not be tolerated, referring to the incident as a worrying development for the country's political stability.

Investigations are ongoing and several suspects have been detained regarding the shooting. This incident follows weeks of student-led protests that culminated in Hasina fleeing to India on August 5 of last year, ending her 15-year rule marked by increasing authoritarianism.

In November, Hasina was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity due to her government allowing lethal force against protesters, resulting in the deaths of approximately 1,400 individuals during recent unrest.