Bangladesh activists protest against US blogger’s murder

DHAKA: Hundreds of protesters rallied in Dhaka to denounce the murder of a prominent American blogger of Bangladeshi origin hacked to death with machetes after he allegedly received threats from extremists.
The demonstrators — including teachers, publishers and fellow writers — met near the spot where Avijit Roy, founder of Mukto-Mona (Free-mind) blog, was attacked by unknown assailants as he returned home from a book fair with his wife.
As they chanted slogans including “we want justice” and “raise your voice against militants,” the head of the Bangladesh bloggers’ association said the protests would continue until those responsible were apprehended.
“Avijit’s killing once again proved that there is a culture of impunity in the country,” Imran Sarker said at the rally.
“The government must arrest the killers in 24 hours or face non-stop protests.”
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the vicious attack, which also seriously wounded the 44-year-old’s wife and has shocked many in a country already reeling from weeks of violent political protest.
Roy, a US citizen, is the second Bangladeshi atheist blogger to have been murdered in two years and the fourth writer to have been attacked since 2004.
His father Ajay Roy said he had warned his son he could face problems in Bangladesh, where secular activists have expressed concern about the rise of radicalism.
“I told Avijit that the Bangladeshi situation would not be comfortable for him. But he came to Bangladesh to see his mother and because two of his books were published at the bookfair,” said the elder Roy.
Ajay Roy said his son had received numerous threats from Islamists before he arrived in Bangladesh on February 16.
Hard-line groups have long demanded the public execution of atheist bloggers and sought new laws to combat writing critical of Islam.
Police have launched an investigation and recovered the machetes used in the attack, which they compared to a fatal assault on atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in 2013.
Haider was hacked to death by members of a little-known militant group, triggering nationwide protests by tens of thousands of secular activists.
“The pattern of the killing appeared to be the same as that of previous attack on a celebrated writer,” assistant commissioner of Dhaka police Shiblee Noman said.
“It seems it was carried out by a reactionary fundamentalist group.”
After Haider’s death, Bangladesh’s hard-line groups started to protest against other campaigning bloggers, accusing them of blasphemy and calling a series of nationwide strikes to demand their execution.
The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reacted by arresting some atheist bloggers.
The government also blocked about a dozen websites and blogs to stem the furor over blasphemy, as well as stepping up security for the bloggers.
“Communal and militant groups have threatened the very spirit of our nation. Yet instead of crushing them, the government was keen on appeasing them by arresting secular bloggers,” said Sarker.
Noman said police were investigating a tweet by Ansar Bangla Seven that appeared to celebrate Roy’s murder.
“Target Down here in #Bangladesh,” the group tweeted from the @AnsarBn7 handle.
The US embassy to Bangladesh offered its condolences to Roy’s family and said it was providing consular assistance.
Roy’s wife, who is also a blogger, was moved to a clinic for further treatment.
Pinaki Bhattacharya, a fellow blogger and friend of Roy, said one of the country’s largest online book retailers was being openly threatened for selling Roy’s books.