On December 12, Sharif Osman Hadi, a rising independent political leader who participated in the July-August protests that toppled the Sheikh Hasina government, was shot in Dhaka in broad daylight. The young leader died six days later, while undergoing treatment in Singapore. Soon after his death was announced, Bangladesh erupted in violence.

The violence that night was not merely an incident of a few buildings being set ablaze. It symbolized a profound crisis of state responsibility.

Organized mobs launched coordinated violent attacks on the media and cultural institutions. The offices of the Prothom Alo and Daily Star were set on fire even as journalists were inside the buildings. Cultural organizations, including Chhayanaut, were vandalized, and a Hindu youth was burned over blasphemy allegations

The attacks took place not in some remote parts of the country, but on the streets of the capital, Dhaka, for hours on end.

The following day, the offices of cultural institutions like the Udichi Shilpi Gosthi were set on fire. Throughout this period, the police, army, and other security forces remained conspicuously inactive. No effective action was seen from the state. The chief advisor’s press secretary issued an apology. And that was all.

The state’s silence even as Bangladesh burned, pushed the country into........

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