Violence outside Indian missions in Bangladesh over student leader death, Hindu man lynched for blasphemy

Attack on Osman Hadi resulted in escalation of anti-India rhetoric after unsubstantiated reports claimed his shooters fled to India. Properties linked to Awami League also vandalised.

A group of people set fire to The Daily Star newspaper office building, following the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, a student leader who had been receiving treatment in Singapore after being shot in the head, in Dhaka on 19 December 2025. | Kazi Salahuddin | Reuters

New Delhi: Violence erupted in Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh Thursday after the death of student leader and independent politician Sharif Osman Hadi, a week after he was shot at by masked assailants. The offices of prominent media houses The Daily Star and Prothom Alo were set on fire, with protesters also attempting to march towards Indian diplomatic missions and attacking properties associated with the Awami League, the party previously in power. 

Meanwhile, a man from the Hindu community was beaten to death by a mob over allegations of blasphemy in Mymensingh’s Bhaluka Upazila Thursday night, according to a BBC Bangla report citing police.

Hadi succumbed to his injuries at a Singapore hospital Thursday. For the past week, the attack had become a major political and diplomatic flashpoint in Bangladesh, resulting in the escalation of anti-India rhetoric after unsubstantiated reports claimed his shooters had fled to India.

In Rajshahi, protesters tried to advance towards the office of an Indian regional diplomat, but police blocked them. Several social media videos showed incidents of stone-pelting near the Indian Assistant High Commission office. The office had to shut operations for the day, along with services at two visa centres.

In Shahbagh, demonstrators marched around the Shahbagh police station, chanting slogans, such as “Tumi ke, ami ke? Hadi, Hadi (Who are you? Who am I? Hadi, Hadi),” “Delhi na Dhaka? Dhaka, Dhaka”, and “Surround the Indian embassy”.

Even on Wednesday, hundreds of protesters had attempted to assemble outside Indian diplomatic premises in Dhaka, including the residence of India’s deputy high commissioner. The police had to use tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Members of the National Citizen Party (NCP)—a major offshoot of Students Against Discrimination (SAD), which had led last year’s uprising—joined the demonstrations, raising anti-India slogans and alleging that Hadi’s attackers had fled to India after the shooting.

Protesters urged the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government to shut down the Indian High Commission until the suspects were returned. “Until India hands over the assassins of Hadi bhai, the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh will remain closed. Now or never, we are at war,” NCP leader Sarjis Alm was quoted as saying.

The house of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman—Bangladesh’s founding president and father of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina—in Dhanmondi-32, which has been destroyed twice before, was vandalised and set on fire again. The Awami League office was also torched.

‘Struggle against Indian hegemony’

Bangladesh’s interim leader Yunus described Hadi’s death as an “irreparable loss for the nation”, announcing a day of national mourning. In an address to the nation Thursday night, Yunus said the national flag would be flown at half-mast at all government, semi-government and autonomous institutions, educational institutions, government and private buildings, as well as Bangladesh missions abroad. He also announced special prayers across mosques in Dhaka.

Hadi was the spokesperson for a platform called Inquilab Moncho, and one of the key members behind the July 2024 protests. He was shot on 12 December, a day after election dates were announced in the country. His condition was critical with a bullet lodged in his head, and was later airlifted to Singapore for further treatment.

In a Facebook post Thursday written in Bangla, Inquilab Moncho announced his death, calling it a struggle against “Indian hegemony”. “In the struggle against Indian hegemony, Allah has accepted the great revolutionary Osman Hadi as a martyr,” it read.

Later, after the violence continued throughout the night, another message posted at around 4:30 am on the platform’s Facebook page read, “Do not hand over the country to those who killed Osman Hadi… Through vandalism and arson, they basically want to turn Bangladesh into a dysfunctional state. They want to endanger the independence and sovereignty of this country. You need to understand that 32 and 36 are not the same thing.” Here, ‘32’ refers to Dhanmondi-32, Mujibur Rahman’s residence, and ‘36’ refers to the July Uprising (36 July).

Even before Hadi’s death, the platform had threatened mass protests and sit-ins in Shahbagh. It had said that if Hadi “answers the call of his Creator and joins the ranks of martyrs”, the “oppressed and freedom-loving people of Bangladesh” should gather at Shahbagh to uphold national sovereignty, adding that the country would be brought to a standstill until their demands were fulfilled.

It had added that if the killer escaped to India, they must be arrested and returned at any cost through discussions with the Indian government.

NCP members Nahid Islam and Hasnat Abdullah had also made several incendiary statements against India over the past week at protest rallies organised by Inquilab Moncho, threatening to “isolate (India’s) Seven Sisters” and harbour “extremists” from the Northeast.

Meanwhile, a Dhaka court has granted three days’ remand each for Sibion Diu and Sanjay Chisim for allegedly assisting Faisal Karim Masud—the prime accused in the attack on Hadi—in fleeing to India, Daily Star reported. After the two were produced before the court, investigation officer Faisal Ahmed had sought seven days’ remand, but the court approved three days instead.

In the remand application, the Detective Branch officer said that confidential sources had indicated the named and unnamed accused had fled to India through the Haluaghat border in Mymensingh. He also noted that Sibion Diu is the nephew of former Awami League lawmaker Jewel Areng.

So far, the Rapid Action Battalion, police, and Border Guard Bangladesh have detained or arrested 20 people in connection with the incident, including those involved in the attack and the escape, according to the report.

(Edited by Mannat Chugh)