Bangladesh unrest: Prothom Alo office vandalised over student leader death

Terming the incident an attack on freedom of speech and press freedom, the Executive Editor urged the government to conduct a proper investigation, identify those responsible and bring them to justice

Executive Editor of Bangladesh's leading daily Prothom Alo, Sajjad Sharif, on Friday said that miscreants vandalised and set fire to the media house, forcing journalists to flee the office and halting publication of the newspaper and its online platform.

Speaking to ANI on the incident, Sharif said the attack took place late last night while journalists were working on the next day's newspaper and online content. He said the incident followed public anger after the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi, described as one of the stewards of last year's uprising.

"There was anger in society, and miscreants diverted that anger towards demolishing newspapers. They attacked us, our journalists were scared to death and had to flee the office," he said.

Sharif said that due to the attack, Prothom Alo could not publish its print edition today, and its online platform has remained offline since last night. "Since our establishment in 1998, in 27 years, this is the first time we have failed to publish our newspaper. It is the darkest night for newspapers," he added.

Terming the incident an attack on freedom of speech and press freedom, the Executive Editor urged the government to conduct a proper investigation, identify those responsible and bring the miscreants to justice.

Calling it the "darkest night" for journalism in the country, Prothom Alo Executive Editor Sajjad Sharif on Friday said the vandalism of the newspaper's office in Dhaka's Karwanbazar was a direct assault on freedom of speech and the news media in Bangladesh, forcing the newspaper to halt print publication for the first time in its 27-year history since its establishment in 1998.

The attack on the news outlets came after the death of Inquilab Mancha spokesperson Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, one of the prominent figures of last year's July Uprising, when a group of people gathered in front of the offices of the newspapers and attacked them, as per Nagorik. The "miscreants" described by the Sharif also attacked another media outlet, the Daily Star, in the same area.

The Executive Editor said that Hadi's killing had sparked anger across society, which was allegedly diverted by miscreants towards media organisations.

"Some miscreants vandalised our (media) house. Yesterday night, while our journalists were working on the next day's newspaper and online, a sad thing happened in the evening. One of the steerers of last year's uprising, Sharif Osman Hadi, was unfortunately killed by someone, and he died yesterday. There was anger in the society," he said.

"The miscreants steered the anger to demolish newspapers. They attacked us, and our journalists were scared to death. They had to flee the office. We couldn't publish our newspaper today, and our online was off since last night. And since its establishment in 1998, in 27 years, it's the first time we haven't publish our newspaper. I would say it is the darkest night for newspapers. And it's an attack on our freedom of speech and freedom of the news media," Sharif added.

He also urged Bangladesh's interim government to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and ensure accountability.