Remembering Avijit Roy

Published on Friday, 26 February 2016

Exactly one year ago, on the 26th of February, 2015, Avijit Roy, founder of the Muktomona Blog, was brutally murdered at the Dhaka Book Fair. Avijit Roy was visiting Dhaka in conjunction with the publication of two of his books. The attack also grievously injured his wife Bonya Ahmed.

A year has gone by. In the meantime three more freethinking bloggers and one publisher of Avijit's books have been murdered. To date the Government of Bangladesh has not taken these murders seriously. It has neither moved forward to bring the killers to justice nor it has issued any statement of condolence or condemnation. Instead of ensuring a space for free speech, the Government routinely cracks down on freethinking writers and incarcerates people on the pretext of 'hurting' religious sensitivity.

Avijit Roy believed that it was important for people, without the refereeing of a third party, to freely access information and knowledge. It is important for people to ask questions and find out things for themselves. We believe, in spite of all the hurdles that are being put forth, all humans will learn to think for themselves to make this earth more livable.

On this sad occasion, we remember the legacy of Avijit Roy.