Why Mobs in Bangladesh Attacked the Offices of Daily Star and Prothom Alo |
Zyma Islam, a senior reporter in the Daily Star, a leading English daily in Bangladesh, was at her work station in the newspaper’s office building when it was attacked by a mob on December 18-19. The mob set the building on fire. As the flames leaped high and smoke engulfed the building, Zyma wrote on Facebook: “I can’t breathe anymore. There’s too much smoke. I am inside. You are killing me.”
With Zyma were over 26 staff of the Daily Star, including journalists, who were trapped in the burning building. Fortunately, all the staff were evacuated and there were no casualties.
Meanwhile, another mob set fire to the office of Prothom Alo, Bangladesh’s largest Bengali newspaper. Veteran journalist Nurul Kabir, an editor of Daily New Age, who is well known for his anti-authoritarian stance, was assaulted.
That night, the mobs also targeted chhayanaut, a cultural organization established in 1961, during the Pakistan era, to promote Bengali cultural and musical heritage.
The day before the media offices were targeted, a flamboyant student leader, Osman Hadi, who was shot by a masked gunman on December 12, died while under........