Horrific hacking of Avijit Roy

WE condemn the brutal murder of writer and blogger Avijit Roy and attack on his wife, Rafida Islam Banna, in no uncertain terms. The savage act, hauntingly similar to the hacking of critical thinker and writer Humayun Azad, took place right in front of the Ekushey Book Fair, in clear view of law enforcers and other people.

According to media reports, the writer, known for his staunch support of secularism and critique of religious fundamentalism in the country, was threatened many times by Islamist extremists. Shortly after the vicious murder took place, an extremist group called Ansar Bangla 7 took responsibility for the death on its twitter account. 

Avijit was a humanist, and an advocate of justice for crimes committed against humanity in '71. This is not only an attack on an individual, but an attack on freedom of thought and our national ethos of a secular, liberal Bangladesh. This is also a reflection of a much bigger problem in our society characterised by intolerance, hatred and bigotry fuelled by religious extremism, and a continuation of verbal and physical attacks with impunity on those who dare to counter these bigoted propaganda.

We strongly believe that ideas should be countered by ideas, not ruthless acts of violence. It is unacceptable that so far similar incidents of violence, including the murders of Azad and blogger Rajib Haider, have not seen justice. The onus lies on the government to conduct a focused investigation and bring the killers as well as those who threatened him publicly to justice. Failure to do so would be tantamount to giving a free rein to the fundamentalist elements in our society. 

This should be a wake-up call for us all who believe in freedom of thought, secularism and tolerance, fundamentals on which all democratic societies are built.