Writer, Blogger, Atheist Murdered By Islamists in Dhaka

Blogger and writer Avijit Roy has been killed and his wife, blogger Rafida Ahmed Bonna, severely injured when unidentified miscreants hacked them at TSC of Dhaka University on Thursday night.

Avijit, son of former DU teacher Dr Ajay Roy and also the founder of Mukto-mona Blog, and his wife have been admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital in critical condition immediately after the attack.

Later, he died while undergoing treatment around 10:30pm, said Shahbagh police station OC Sirajul Islam. OC Sirajul said: “We do not have any clear idea about the attackers.

But, the police is suspecting that those, who attacked Humayun Azad, might be behind this as the attacking style suggested similarity.” On February 27, 2004, professor Humayun Azad was attacked on the way back from book fair, in the following August he died in Germany.

Miscreants also exploded two crude bombs outside of the DMCH around 11:30pm, immediately after the news spread in the city.

A group of people have staged a protest in front of the DMCH, protesting the killing. DU Proctor Amjad Ali said: “I came to know the writer had been receiving threats from militants because of his anti-communal activism.”

Among the teachers of Dhaka University who rushed to Dhaka Medical College hospital hearing the news of the attack, were Professor Dr Abul Barkat, Professor Anwar Hossain. Professor Anwar Hossain said the those, who are against the country’s liberation, democracy, free thoughts and attacked Humayun Azad, have perpetrated this. Liton Nandi, Dhaka University Chhatra Union president, told the Dhaka Tribune they were set to bring a torch procession, protesting the attack and killing in a short time.

Dhaka University teacher Robayet Ferdous told the Dhaka Tribune that the teachers and student of Dhaka University will hold a rally at TSC in protest against the killing at 11am Friday.

Dhaka city unit Political Affairs Secretary of Students’ Federation Refat Salam told the Dhaka Tribune:”we will bring out a protest procession on DU campus around 11am Friday.” Earlier in 2014, online bookstore Rokomari.com stopped selling books by the well-known writer after an Islamic militant issued death threats on Facebook to the website’s owner.

The decision to withdraw his books was prompted by death threats posted to Facebook by Farabi Shafiur Rahman(https://facebook.com/shafiur2012), an Islamist extremist allegedly linked to Jamaat-e-Islami. Farabi accused Avijit of defaming Islam and the “prophet” Mohammed and accused Rokomari.com chairman Mahmudul Hasan Sohag of “promoting atheism” by selling his books.

In his Facebook post, Farabi specified the office address of Rokomari.com and called upon his “Islamist friends” in the adjacent locality to attack.

He also told Sohag that he would suffer the same fate as Ahmed Rajib Haider, a blogger known by the pseudonym Thaba Baba, who was hacked to death last year by machete-wielding Islamic militants.

Avijit, a Bangladesh-born engineer, who was living in the United States, rose to prominence with his books on philosophy, scientific thought and human rights issues.

Among his books are বিশ্বাস এবং বিজ্ঞান (Belief and Science), অবিশ্বাসের দর্শন (philosophy of disbelief), সমকামিতা: বৈজ্ঞানিক ও সমাজমনস্তাত্ত্বিক অনুসন্ধান (Homosexuality: Scientific and socio-psychological investigation), স্বতন্ত্র ভাবনা ও বুদ্ধির মুক্তি (individual thought and freedom of thought) etc. Avijit and his wife came to Bangladesh to attend the book fair as two of his books came out in the fair. – See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2015/feb/26/writer-avijit-roy-killed-miscreants-attack#sthash.4IqfpT1J.dpuf

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/south-asia/story/us-blogger-bangladeshi-origin-hacked-death-20150227

http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2015/02/26/assailants-hack-to-death-writer-avijit-roy-wife-injured

http://www.thedailystar.net/writer-avijit-roy-hacked-dead-wife-hurt-near-tsc-66888

http://heavy.com/news/2015/02/avijit-roy-dead-killed-murder-stabbed-islamic-critic-funeral-tribute-rip-wife-rafida-bonna/