Bangladesh Protests: Newspaper Fails to Publish for the First Time in 27 Years; Osman Hadi’s Funeral Today | Important Updates
Bangladesh Protests: As the remains of a well-known youth leader arrived in Bangladesh from Singapore on Friday, amid new tension in the capital after nighttime rampages sparked by his murder, the country’s interim administration encouraged residents to reject violence by “fringe elements.”
Shortly after Sharif Osman Hadi’s body arrived in Dhaka from Singapore, where he had been receiving treatment for fatal gunshot wounds inflicted by masked gunmen on December 12, police claim that alleged radical right-wing activists set fire to the main office of the left-leaning Udichi Shilpigoshthi in the capital.
“Everything (inside Udichi’s office) was destroyed by the arson,” said Jamshed Anwar, general secretary of the nation’s biggest cultural organization, which was established in 1968.
According to the fire department, the fire has been contained. Numerous personnel of the army, BGB, and police are stationed in front of the building. Hadi was a candidate for the general elections on February 12 and one of the leaders who had participated in the student-led demonstrations known as the July Uprising last year.
The corpse of Osman Haidi has reached Bangladesh.
According to state-run news agency BSS, Biman General Manager (Public Relations) Boshra Islam said that Hadi’s body, who served as the spokesperson for the Inqilab Mancha, arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at approximately 6 p.m. local time on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, amid heavy security and widespread public mourning.
It further said that as Hadi’s corpse was removed from the airport, several members of the Bangladesh Army, Armed Forces Battalion (AFB), and police were stationed to provide protection.
Yuns calls for harmony.
Interim government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus promised to bring those responsible for Hadi’s horrific murder to trial as soon as possible in a nationally broadcast speech late Thursday, declaring that “no leniency will be shown” to the murderers. Additionally, he asked people to exercise “restraint and patience.”
However, shortly after Yunus verified Hadi’s death, violence and vandalism, including stone-hurling at the Assistant Indian High Commissioner’s home in Chattogram, shook many regions of the nation on Thursday night.
Today’s funeral for Osman Hadi
On Saturday, Yunus announced a one-day period of mourning. The Bangladeshi interim government’s press wing has declared that Hadi’s burial would now take place at 2:00 pm. According to the statement, the funeral prayer will take place on Saturday at 2:00 PM at the National Parliament Building’s South Plaza. The funeral prayer was supposed to take place at 2:30 pm, as previously scheduled.
It has been specifically urged that those who desire to attend the janaza refrain from bringing any heavy objects or baggage. In a statement on social media, Inqilab Mancha said “Upon the family’s wishes, a decision has been taken to bury Hadi beside the grave of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and to hold his funeral prayer after Zuhr tomorrow at Manik Mia Avenue.”
It is the first time in 27 years that a newspaper does not publish.
Sajjad Sharif, the executive editor of Bangladesh’s top daily Prothom Alo, said on Friday that criminals had set fire to and vandalized the media outlet, forcing reporters to leave their offices and stopping the publishing of the newspaper and its online version.
Sharif discussed the event with ANI, saying that the assault happened late yesterday night when reporters were preparing the newspaper and web material for the following day. According to him, the event happened as a result of public outrage after the murder of Sharif Osman Hadi, who was seen as one of the stewards of the revolt that occurred last year.
“Miscreants used the fury that was there in society to destroy publications. They assaulted us, and our journalists had to leave the office because they were so terrified,” he claimed.
According to Sharif, Prothom Alo’s internet platform has been down since yesterday night, and the assault prevented the publication of its print edition today. “This is the first time in 27 years since our founding in 1998 that we have not published our newspaper. “For newspapers, this is the darkest night,” he said.