Bangladesh protests updates: Violence after activist Sharif Osman Hadi dies

This live page is now closed.

For more on the killing of youth protest leader Sharif Osman Hadi, read our explainer here.

For the latest on ongoing protests in Bangladesh, see our report here.

And for background on the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections, read here.

We will be closing the live page soon. Here is a recap of the day’s main developments:

• Sharif Osman Hadi’s body was repatriated to Bangladesh from Singapore, where he was being treated before he succumbed to his injuries inflicted last week in Dhaka.
• A funeral prayer for Hadi will take place tomorrow at 2pm (08:00 GMT) at Bangladesh’s National Parliament House, according to an announcement by interim leader Muhammad Yunus.
• Earlier, Yunus called Hadi’s death “an irreplaceable loss to the nation’s political and democratic sphere”.
• Inqilab Moncho, or Platform for Revolution, has called on its followers to stop carrying out acts of violence in Bangladesh’s streets after a number of buildings were torched overnight across the country.
• Demonstrators have cut off access to a highway in the city of Gazipur, located north of the capital, Dhaka, as they demand Hadi’s killers be brought to justice.
• Two of Bangladesh’s main political players – the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami – have lamented Hadi’s death.

A funeral prayer for Hadi will take place tomorrow at 2pm (08:00 GMT) at Bangladesh’s National Parliament House, according to an announcement by interim leader Muhammad Yunus.

Those attending are “requested not to carry any bags or heavy items” and the use of drones is “strictly prohibited”, says Yunus.

Bangladesh’s Prothom Alo newspaper, which had to pause operations for the first time in 27 years due to the overnight arson attack, says it will restart online operations “as soon as possible”.

“We will resume Prothom Alo’s online operations as quickly as possible. The newspaper will be published as usual from tomorrow,” the paper said in a statement.

It accused the perpetrators of trying to “derail the upcoming elections” and “damage Bangladesh’s image internationally” with the “planned” assault.

The attack is “a clear example of a direct assault on democracy, press freedom and the right to dissent”, the statement added.

Protesters in Bangladesh have taken to the streets after prominent student movement leader Sharif Osman Hadi succumbed to his wounds from being shot.

Demonstrators burned and ransacked buildings, accusing India of being behind the shooting.

Watch our video below:

Shafiqur Rahman, the head of Bangladesh’s Jamaat-e-Islami party, has called for restraint and national unity as protests continue across the capital.

“The anger and emotion among students and the public are justified and understandable,” Rahman said in a statement, warning that any attempt to exploit this sentiment for other interests “cannot be accepted”.

The party chief stressed that attacks on The Daily Star and Prothom Alo newspapers amount to assaults on democracy, freedom of expression and the rule of law, adding that “any just movement must remain peaceful and disciplined”.

He also demanded the immediate identification and punishment of anyone involved in Hadi’s killing.

The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has sent increased security to multiple locations across Dhaka in anticipation of protests as Hadi’s body is repatriated.

Some BGB forces have headed to the airport, where Platform for Revolution told its protesters to gather earlier today.

Others are stationed at Karwan Bazar, near the offices of the Daily Star and Prothom Alo newspapers, and Hotel InterContinental, located a few minutes on foot from the protest site, Shahbag Square, the BGB said in a statement carried by local news outlets.

As we’ve been reporting, crowds have already assembled at Shahbag for a rally.

The Daily Star newspaper is reporting that demonstrators have cut off access to a highway in the city of Gazipur, located north of the capital, Dhaka, as they demand Hadi’s killers be brought to justice.

Protesters stopped vehicles travelling in both directions at Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in Gazipur’s Chandona Chowrasta area, the newspaper reported.

Shahidul Alam, the Gazipur traffic police assistant commissioner, said the blockade was still ongoing just before 4pm local time (10:00 GMT).

The Daily Star, one of two newspapers in Dhaka whose offices were vandalised last night in the wake of Hadi’s death, has published an article with more details of the attack.

According to the publication, about 100 to 200 people broke through a gate and entered the ground floor of the nine-storey building where the office is housed, close to midnight.

Dozens of people went up the building floor by floor, vandalising and looting equipment, while others set fire to the first and second floors, said the publication.

“Flames and thick smoke … spread rapidly through the building,” said The Daily Star, forcing 28 journalists and staff to lock themselves on the roof, where they took refuge for more than four hours.

They “were all rescued by members of the army and firefighters at about 5am (11:00 GMT, December 18),” said Mahmudul Hasan Khan, head of human resources at the newspaper.

“However, the attackers have caused extensive damage. They burned down and vandalised almost everything they could find on the ground floor to second floor,” said Khan.

A retired army officer and victim of enforced disappearance under Sheikh Hasina’s regime is calling for the extradition of all perpetrators from India.

Speaking at the Shahbag protest in Dhaka, former Colonel Hasinur Rahman accused India of backing what he described as authoritarian rule under Hasina. He alleged that people in Bangladesh were killed after being branded as “militants”.

Hasinur demanded that the alleged killers of Sharif Osman Hadi – who are reportedly believed to have fled to India – return to face trial in Bangladesh, along with Sheikh Hasina herself.

Hasinur also criticised the Yunus-led administration for failing to arrest Hadi’s killers, saying Bangladesh would never step back into any form of authoritarian rule again.

India is closely monitoring Bangladesh’s “internal situation” but will not get involved in domestic affairs, the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi has said.

“Senior officials in both India and Bangladesh are acutely aware that Bangladesh’s internal situation remains fluid and evolving, requiring thorough and impartial analysis,” the commission’s spokesperson said in a statement.

“Post-uprising phases in any country often give rise to unintended and tragic consequences, a reality underscored by the killing of a widely admired young leader such as [Sharif] Osman Hadi,” it said.

The statement emphasised that while India is “attentive” to ongoing developments in Bangladesh, “it does not interfere” in its neighbour’s political processes.

Protesters have accused India of harbouring members of the previous government, including convicted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• Platform for Revolution has urged its followers to “avoid violence” as angry protests over the killing of the movement’s spokesperson, Sharif Osman Hadi, rock the country.
• Bangladesh’s interim government has also condemned the outbreak of violence, including arson attacks on two newspapers and the alleged lynching of a Hindu man in Mymensingh.
• Hadi’s body is on its way back to Bangladesh from Singapore, where he was receiving medical treatment before he died, according to the BSS news agency. Mosques throughout Bangladesh are expected to offer special prayers for him today.
• Bangladesh’s main political parties – the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami – have expressed condolences over Hadi’s killing. Interim leader Muhammad Yunus described his death as “an irreplaceable loss to the nation’s political and democratic sphere”.

I am right next to the Dhaka University campus in Shahbag Square, where a protest is going on.

It’s mostly students, but also people from all walks of life, with some political party elements as well.

Their main slogan is “We want justice” for the killer of Osman Hadi.

There are rumours that the gunman apparently escaped to India through the border, although it has not been proven. The protesters say all those who are convicted in India should be repatriated to Bangladesh.

There’s a strong anti-India sentiment in the crowd. They say India always meddles in Bangladesh’s affairs – particularly right before the elections – and that former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been making provocative statements from India, where she is taking shelter.

This is what people are demanding: They’re saying the gunman must be brought to justice as soon as possible, or they will continue to protest.

Groups of people have begun assembling at Shahbag in central Dhaka as the body of Hadi is expected to arrive in the capital this evening.

Nadim Hawlader, 32, from Dhaka’s airport area and an activist of a Bangladesh Nationalist Party-affiliated volunteer organisation, told Al Jazeera that Hadi had been “brutally murdered” to silence dissent.

“We have come to protest his killing and what we see as Indian aggression,” Hawlader said.

He alleged that India had exerted undue influence over Bangladesh since 1971, and accused New Delhi of backing Sheikh Hasina’s rule over the past 17 years, during which, he claimed, political repression and killings took place.

Hawlader also alleged that the perpetrators had fled to India and said the protests would continue until “Sheikh Hasina and all those responsible for killings are returned”.

Protesters are also demanding the resignation of the heads of the Home Affairs Ministry and the Law Ministry, accusing the authorities of failing to ensure Hadi’s security.