US-Bangladeshi blogger, Avijit Roy killed by angry Islamists

Avijit Roy, a US-Bangladeshi blogger who sternly opposed religious extremism in his blogs, was attacked when he along with his wife, were  returning from a book fair . The reports say that his writings on religion had angered the Islamist hardliners. Avijit’s wife survived the attack, however Avijit lost his life.

The police have not arrested anyone and is investigating a local Islamic group who shared the appreciation for the killing. Avijit’s family reported that the blogger had received many threats after publishing articles promoting secular views, science and social issues on his Bengali  blog, Mukto-mona (Free Mind).

“The death threats started flowing to my e-mail inbox on a regular basis,” wrote Avijit in the Free Inquiry magazine of April-May 2015

“I suddenly found myself a target of militant Islamists and terrorists. A well-known extremist… openly issued death threats to me through his numerous Facebook entries. In one widely circulated status, the militants wrote, ‘Avijit Roy lives in America and so, it is not possible to kill him right now. But he will be murdered when he comes back.'”

His website reads the message, avijit roy's wesiteSource

US State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki described it “as an assault on Bangladesh’s proud tradition of free intellectual and religious speech.”

Avijit’s father urged the police to “ensure exemplary punishment”. He said, “This Bangladesh which was built by the blood-sacrifice of the martyrs has now turned into a den of militants.”

Teachers, student and bloggers gathered at the Dhaka University to protest against the killing.

protest

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In 2013, a secular blogger, Ahmed Rajib Haider was also murdered for his writings. The police say that both the killers are similar.

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