International communities have expressed concerns over press freedom and the safety of journalists in Bangladesh amid violent attacks against major news organisations and broader threats to freedom of expression.
The incidents have reignited debate at home and drawn condemnation from civil society, media organisations, and international observers.
The offices of two of the country’s leading newspapers — Prothom Alo and The Daily Star — were targeted in attacks that many see as part of a broader attempt to intimidate the free press. During a visit to the damaged Prothom Alo headquarters in Dhaka, members of the Women’s Affairs Reform Commission, Sumaiya Islam, and members of the Labor Reform Commission, AKM Nasim, were also present. Prothom Alo Executive Editor Sajjad Sharif, Head of Online Shawkat Hossain, and Commerce Department Editor Sujoy Mahajan presented the details of the attack to them. They described the assaults as deliberate blows aimed at weakening independent media and instilling fear in voices critical of power structures. They stressed that such actions threaten not only journalists but the public’s ability to access unbiased information and express divergent views.
A joint statement issued by seven international organisations warned that these violent acts — which also included vandalism of cultural institutions — reflect a worrying contraction of civic and democratic space in Bangladesh. These organisations include US-based human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), the US-based organisation working to protect civil rights online Access Now, the global organisation protecting freedom of expression Article Nineteen, the global organisation working to protect the rights of journalists Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the international human rights organisation International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), and Tech Global Institute (TGI).
These groups pointed to attacks that placed journalists and media workers in direct physical danger, disrupted news publication, and raised the spectre of a climate of fear among reporters and commentators.
The organisations also expressed concern over the death and burning of Dipu Chandra Das in Bhaluka upazila of Mymensingh on the same night on charges of blasphemy. Their statement said that these incidents followed the death of Sharif Osman bin Hadi, the convener of the Inquilab Manch, a leading figure in Bangladesh’s July 2024 mass uprising. Osman Hadi was shot dead by miscreants in broad daylight in the country’s capital on December 12, and died on December 18.
Regional press clubs, including the Press Club of India and the Karachi Press Club, voiced serious concern, highlighting the detention without due process of more than 100 journalists since the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus took office, urging their immediate release.
Attacks on Press Outlets In Bangladesh
Last week saw some of the most unprecedented assaults on press freedom in recent memory in Bangladesh:
In the early hours of 19 December, mobs vandalised and set fire to the offices of Prothom Alo in Karwan Bazar and The Daily Star near Farmgate in Dhaka. Buildings were torched and ransacked, forcing the newspapers to temporarily halt their printing operations — a symbolic disruption not seen in decades. Journalists and staff were reportedly trapped inside and had to be evacuated as smoke and flames engulfed the premises.
These attacks occurred amid widespread unrest following the death of Osman Hadi, which had already sparked protests and heightened tensions.
In response to concerns for safety, the government assigned armed protection to senior editors of the affected newspapers, while authorities arrested several individuals connected to the violence.
Within Bangladesh, editors and media advocates have warned that journalists’ personal safety is increasingly taking precedence over freedom of expression itself, as threats and assaults grow more severe and frequent.
