Church leaders condemn arson attack on top Bangladesh newspaper offices

A group set fire to the office of the country’s top Bangla newspaper, Prothom Alo, late on Dec. 19, 2025, to protest the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi, a front-line leader of a 2024 uprising in Bangladesh. / Credit: Dipu Malaker

Dhaka, Bangladesh, Dec 19, 2025 / 13:24 pm (CNA).

Catholic leaders in Bangladesh have condemned arson attacks on the offices of two of the country’s top newspapers and the homes of ousted Awami League leaders in protests of the killing of a frontline leader in a 2024 uprising.

Sharif Osman Hadi, 32, was shot in broad daylight on Dec. 12 and died in Singapore on Dec. 18.

“We condemn this attack and we are very concerned about the upcoming elections,” said Father Liton Hubert Gomes, secretary of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Bangladesh.

The announcement of Hadi’s death prompted thousands of people, especially young, to take to the streets of Dhaka to protest and demand justice for Hadi’s killers. Some protesters claim that the accused in Hadi’s shooting have fled to India and say the protests will continue until the Indian government returns them.

A number of protesters attacked the offices and residences of the Indian High Commission in Khulna and Chittagong, vandalized and set fire to the Dhaka headquarters of Prothom Alo, a leading Bangle newspaper, and the Daily Star, a top English newspaper. Protestors also vandalized and set fire to the offices of the cultural organization Chhayanat, the Indira Gandhi Cultural Center, and several other establishments.

Gomes, a Holy Cross priest, said the government has the responsibility to protect these establishments but has failed, so he wonders how this government will protect the people’s right to vote.

“There must be freedom for any newspaper and without that, no pillar of the nation will be good. Therefore, we have to stop this mob justice,” he told CNA.

In July 2024, the student-led uprising in Bangladesh led to the eventual overthrow of dictator Sheikh Hasina and her subsequent exile in India. Sharif Osman Hadi was the front-runner in the uprising. He later announced that he would contest the upcoming elections from Dhaka.

Hadi had always questioned and criticized Indian hegemony to Bangladesh and was a staunch critic of Hasina. Since August 2024, Bangladesh has been run by an interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

The government is calling on all citizens of Bangladesh to remain firmly vigilant against all forms of violence perpetrated by a few isolated extremist groups. 

A statement by the government said: “We strongly and unequivocally condemn all acts of violence, intimidation, arson, and destruction of life and property. The nation has witnessed your courage and tolerance even in the face of terrorism. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. We assure you of full justice.”