Several secular Bangladeshi bloggers hacked to death

August 7, 2015 7:46 AM

August ’15: ‘Blogger hacked to death in Dhaka’ (BBC article); May ’15: ‘Secular blogger hacked to death;’ March ’15: ‘Another online activist hacked to death in Dhaka;’ Feb. ’15: ‘Assailants hack to death Avijit Roy, wife injured; Nov. ’14: (accounts of five previous attacks).

July ’15: ‘The calculated silence on the killing of bloggers;’ also: ‘Attacked Bangladeshi humanist blogger Bonya Ahmed delivers 2015 Voltaire lecture.’

posted by misteraitch (6 comments total)

It might be helpful to understand these attacks in the context of the ongoing political struggle in Bangladesh, which can be plausibly described as a conflict between secular Muslim/Hindu Bangladesh and Islamist, Pro-Pakistan Bangladesh.
posted by Avenger at 8:28 AM on August 7, 2015

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) has introduced a resolution "calling on the Government of Bangladesh to protect the human rights of all its citizens, particularly vulnerable minorities, strengthen democratic institutions and rule of law, and prevent the growth of extremist groups" [via the American Humanist Association].
posted by audi alteram partem at 8:36 AM on August 7, 2015

Avenger: Those links don't particularly help to clarify the nature of the conflict, other than that it is a political struggle, could you elaborate?
posted by leotrotsky at 8:42 AM on August 7, 2015

Pro-Pakistan because the Awami League (the current secularist government) supported autonomy during the Bangladeshi War of Liberation while the more Islamic-oriented parties generally favored (West) Pakistan, even to the point of creating death squads to eliminate Hindus, secular intellectuals and rape Hindu women.
posted by Avenger at 9:46 AM on August 7, 2015 [2 favorites]

From the Center for Inquiry:

After the third murder of a Bangladeshi blogger and amid imminent threats against the life of human rights champion Taslima Nasrin, CFI established the Freethought Emergency Fund in order to assist in the protection and escape of secularist writers and activists in countries like Bangladesh who have been targeted for death by Islamists. Dr. Nasrin was brought to the United States by CFI, and is actively working to secure the safety of targeted bloggers in Bangladesh.

posted by audi alteram partem at 1:07 PM on August 7, 2015 [2 favorites]

“Police in Bangladesh have arrested three people, including a UK citizen, over the murders of secularist bloggers Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das.”
posted by misteraitch at 3:06 AM on August 18, 2015