Remembering Avijit Roy
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.
Lamenting Avijit's Jeopardous Trip to Bangladesh
In the morning of February 26 last year both my wife and I were at our computers in our home office in the greater Washington DC area. I was doing my office work, and she was browsing news on the internet. She was much startled by a news item, and started reading it loudly, so that I could hear it. It was about the murder of Avijit Roy, writer and blogger, at the Ekushe Book Fair in Dhaka. Before she could say "writer and blogger" after "Avijit Roy", my heart started pounding. I felt like I was having a nightmare; I did not want to believe the news. I screamed, no, no! The next phase of my reaction was mostly swearing at Avijit for going to Bangladesh.
Getting to Know Avijit Roy
I am penning down my thoughts on the occasion of Avijit Roy's first death anniversary.
Epigraph for the Freedom of Thought Report
Rafida Ahmed writes in the preface to the 2015 edition, "once a country silences and intimidates its intellectuals and freethinkers, a vicious cycle of terror and extremism becomes inevitable". We must not let that happen. Freedom of Thought Report: 2015
Remarks for Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Briefing on Human Rights in Bangladesh
Announcement of the briefing from Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission website
A different kind of Halloween In Bangladesh - Brutal killings of free-thinkers
Halloween or Hallowe'en, a contraction of all Hallows' Evening, is a celebration brought to the USA by the Irish and Scottish immigrants in 19th century. In the late 20th century this celebration of Halloween was also observed in other western countries. Now, in the present time Halloween is celebrated in almost all the western countries namely, USA, Canada, Ireland, UK, and many other countries. Other than the countries mentioned earlier it is observed being celebrated in countries like Japan in Asia, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. According to the popular belief among the people of Irish, British Welsh community, the pagan god of death Samhain (SAH-win) calls upon all the souls/ spirits of the dead people. According to the belief, in that night all the man made laws are no longer active and the dead spirits are allowed to join the world of alive world. They also believed that, all the dead spirits lived in a land in the form of immortal youngs, and were called "Tir nan Oge". Some believed that the dead ones lived with angels.
Murderous Attacks on Bangladeshi Science Writers and Publishers
This year to date, six people in Bangladesh who have promoted a natural and observation-based view of humanity's place in history have been hacked to death by those who seek to impose a particular supernatural view of humanity's origins and destiny. Other "free thinkers" in that country have been severely injured and threatened. Previously confined to authors and translators, last weekend witnessed the same method of execution applied to publishers of science-based books. These targeted killings have generated both fear and bravery among the community of rationalist advocates in the country. During the same period, two foreigners not associated with science education have also been killed in the south Asian nation, but by a different method of execution: drive-by shooting. While there is debate about whether all these killings were linked, death by hacking has been exclusive to the former group.
Rafida Ahmed Bonya on the UN panel "Ending Impunity for Crimes against Journalists
The panel was organized on the 2nd International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, and just 2 days after the attacks on Avijit's publishers Faisal Arefin Dipon and Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, the attack that killed Dipon. https://www.unesco.org/new/en/EndImpunity
You can murder kafir in Bangladesh
Today Faisal Arefin Dipan of 'Jagriti Prokashony' was hacked on the 2nd floor of Aziz Supermarket at Shahbagh. He was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where the doctors declared him dead. This happened only a few hours after Ahmedur Rashid Chowdhury Tutul of 'Shuddhaswar' publishing house was hacked in his office at Lalmatia around 2:30 PM along with blogger Tarik Rahim and writer Ranadipam Basu. Tutul and Rahim are in critical condition.