US atheist murdered in Bangladesh
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/27/american-atheist-blogger-hacked-to-death-in-bangladesh
American atheist blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh
Avijit Roy, whose Mukto-Mona (Free-mind) blog championed liberal secular writing in the Muslim-majority nation, attacked along with his wife in Dhaka
Avijit Roy, the blogger on Mukto-Mona who was killed in a machete attack. Photograph: Twitter/Dhaka TribuneAgence France-Presse
Friday 27 February 201501.06 GMTLast modified on Friday 27 February 201506.10 GMT
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A prominent American blogger of Bangladeshi origin was hacked to death with machetes by unidentified assailants in Dhaka, police said, with the atheist writer’s family claiming he had received numerous threats from Islamists.
The body of Avijit Roy, founder of Mukto-Mona (Free-mind) blog site which champions liberal secular writing in the Muslim-majority nation, was found covered in blood after the attack which also left his wife critically wounded.
“He died as he was brought to the hospital. His wife was also seriously wounded. She has lost a finger,” local police chief Sirajul Islam said.
The couple were on a bicycle rickshaw, returning from a book fair, when two assailants stopped and dragged them onto a sidewalk before striking them with machetes, local media reported citing witnesses.
Roy, said to be around 40, is the second Bangladeshi blogger to have been murdered in two years and the fourth writer to have been attacked since 2004.
Hardline Islamist groups have long demanded the public execution of atheist bloggers and sought new laws to combat writing critical of Islam.
“Roy suffered fatal wounds in the head and died from bleeding... after being brought to the hospital,” doctor Sohel Ahmed told reporters.
Police have launched a probe and recovered the machetes used in the attack but could not confirm whether Islamists were behind the incident.
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Police forensics investigate the scene where a US blogger was hacked to death by unidentified assailants in Dhaka on Friday. Photograph: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty ImagesBut Roy’s father said the writer, a US citizen, had received a number of “threatening” emails and messages on social media from hardliners unhappy with his writing.
“He was a secular humanist and has written about ten books” including his most famous “Biswasher Virus” (Virus of Faith), his father Ajoy Roy told AFP.
The Center for Inquiry, a US-based charity promoting free thought, said it was “shocked and heartbroken” by the brutal murder of Roy.
“Dr Roy was a true ally, a courageous and eloquent defender of reason, science, and free expression, in a country where those values have been under heavy attack,” it said in a statement.
Roy’s killing also triggered strong condemnation from his fellow writers and publishers, who lamented the growing religious conservatism and intolerance inBangladesh.
“The attack on Roy and his wife Rafida Ahmed is outrageous. We strongly protest this attack and are deeply concerned about the safety of writers,” Imran H. Sarker, head of an association for bloggers in Bangladesh, told AFP.
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Avijit Roy’s wife Rafida Ahmed Banna is carried on a stretcher after she was seriously injured by unidentified assailants. Roy, founded a blog site which champions liberal secular writing in the Muslim majority nation.Photograph: Rajib Dhar/AFP/Getty ImagesPinaki Bhattacharya, a fellow blogger and friend of Roy, claimed one of the country’s largest online book retailers was being openly threatened for selling Roy’s books.
“In Bangladesh the easiest target is an atheist. An atheist can be attacked and murdered,” he wrote on Facebook.
Atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider was hacked to death in 2013 by members of a little known Islamist militant group, triggering nationwide protests by tens of thousands of secular activists.
After Haider’s death, Bangladesh’s hardline Islamist groups started to protest against other campaigning bloggers, calling a series of nationwide strikes to demand their execution, accusing them of blasphemy.
The secular government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reacted by arresting some atheist bloggers.
The government also blocked about a dozen websites and blogs to stem the furore over blasphemy, as well as stepping up security for the bloggers.
Bangladesh is the world’s fourth-largest Muslim majority nation with Muslims making up some 90 per cent of the country’s 160 million people.
A tribunal has recently handed down a series of verdicts against leading Islamists and others for crimes committed during the war of independence from Pakistan in 1971.
American atheist blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh
Avijit Roy, whose Mukto-Mona (Free-mind) blog championed liberal secular writing in the Muslim-majority nation, attacked along with his wife in Dhaka
Avijit Roy, the blogger on Mukto-Mona who was killed in a machete attack. Photograph: Twitter/Dhaka TribuneAgence France-Presse
Friday 27 February 201501.06 GMTLast modified on Friday 27 February 201506.10 GMT
Shares
4,221
A prominent American blogger of Bangladeshi origin was hacked to death with machetes by unidentified assailants in Dhaka, police said, with the atheist writer’s family claiming he had received numerous threats from Islamists.
The body of Avijit Roy, founder of Mukto-Mona (Free-mind) blog site which champions liberal secular writing in the Muslim-majority nation, was found covered in blood after the attack which also left his wife critically wounded.
“He died as he was brought to the hospital. His wife was also seriously wounded. She has lost a finger,” local police chief Sirajul Islam said.
The couple were on a bicycle rickshaw, returning from a book fair, when two assailants stopped and dragged them onto a sidewalk before striking them with machetes, local media reported citing witnesses.
Roy, said to be around 40, is the second Bangladeshi blogger to have been murdered in two years and the fourth writer to have been attacked since 2004.
Hardline Islamist groups have long demanded the public execution of atheist bloggers and sought new laws to combat writing critical of Islam.
“Roy suffered fatal wounds in the head and died from bleeding... after being brought to the hospital,” doctor Sohel Ahmed told reporters.
Police have launched a probe and recovered the machetes used in the attack but could not confirm whether Islamists were behind the incident.
FacebookTwitterPinterestPolice forensics investigate the scene where a US blogger was hacked to death by unidentified assailants in Dhaka on Friday. Photograph: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty ImagesBut Roy’s father said the writer, a US citizen, had received a number of “threatening” emails and messages on social media from hardliners unhappy with his writing.
“He was a secular humanist and has written about ten books” including his most famous “Biswasher Virus” (Virus of Faith), his father Ajoy Roy told AFP.
The Center for Inquiry, a US-based charity promoting free thought, said it was “shocked and heartbroken” by the brutal murder of Roy.
“Dr Roy was a true ally, a courageous and eloquent defender of reason, science, and free expression, in a country where those values have been under heavy attack,” it said in a statement.
Roy’s killing also triggered strong condemnation from his fellow writers and publishers, who lamented the growing religious conservatism and intolerance inBangladesh.
“The attack on Roy and his wife Rafida Ahmed is outrageous. We strongly protest this attack and are deeply concerned about the safety of writers,” Imran H. Sarker, head of an association for bloggers in Bangladesh, told AFP.
FacebookTwitterPinterestAvijit Roy’s wife Rafida Ahmed Banna is carried on a stretcher after she was seriously injured by unidentified assailants. Roy, founded a blog site which champions liberal secular writing in the Muslim majority nation.Photograph: Rajib Dhar/AFP/Getty ImagesPinaki Bhattacharya, a fellow blogger and friend of Roy, claimed one of the country’s largest online book retailers was being openly threatened for selling Roy’s books.
“In Bangladesh the easiest target is an atheist. An atheist can be attacked and murdered,” he wrote on Facebook.
Atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider was hacked to death in 2013 by members of a little known Islamist militant group, triggering nationwide protests by tens of thousands of secular activists.
After Haider’s death, Bangladesh’s hardline Islamist groups started to protest against other campaigning bloggers, calling a series of nationwide strikes to demand their execution, accusing them of blasphemy.
The secular government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reacted by arresting some atheist bloggers.
The government also blocked about a dozen websites and blogs to stem the furore over blasphemy, as well as stepping up security for the bloggers.
Bangladesh is the world’s fourth-largest Muslim majority nation with Muslims making up some 90 per cent of the country’s 160 million people.
A tribunal has recently handed down a series of verdicts against leading Islamists and others for crimes committed during the war of independence from Pakistan in 1971.
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Is it even safe for people to even be going holidays to such countries? I would never want to live in such a country due to all the hostility, grudge and jealousy from the average person there. Don't know why Bengali parents invest so much in building houses in Bangladesh for their 'British Bengali' kids as it seems unlikely they will want to go and live there.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/27/american-atheist-blogger-hacked-to-death-in-bangladesh?CMP=share_btn_fb
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/27/american-atheist-blogger-hacked-to-death-in-bangladesh?CMP=share_btn_fb
(edited 9 years ago)
It was obviously either a peaceful conquest or they are not true muslims.
Original post by clh_hilary
It was obviously either a peaceful conquest or they are not true muslims.
No you are incorrect, in fact the method of the killing may be a bit too much but you have to remember maybe he has insulted the prophet Muhammad at some point and obviously when people do that they have to realise how Muslims might react cos they love the prophet so much you see. I mean imagine someone called your kid ugly or insulted your partner? You'd hack and slash with that machete until the drains ran red with blood right? You sure would. That's why it happens when people insult Muhammad cos he's so super important he's more important than your family, that warlord who pretty much lived a millennium ago. Now you may say to me "but why can't they just ignore it, take the moral high ground?", well that's all and good but is that really what a kick ass warlord would have done? No sir, you offend his honour, you lose some limbs.
...I hope this has cleared things up.
"It's just a minority of Muslims"
"This isn't Islam"
"The perpetrators weren't true Muslims"
"This isn't Islam"
"The perpetrators weren't true Muslims"
Original post by LockheedSpooky
"It's just a minority of Muslims"
"This isn't Islam"
"The perpetrators weren't true Muslims"
"This isn't Islam"
"The perpetrators weren't true Muslims"
"This killing is nothing to do with Islam"
Of course I don't have a problem with non-extremist Muslims, but incidents like this expose the "religion of peace" argument as the pure fantasy that it is. Especially when this isn't an isolated incident.
Just awful 
I wait with baited breath to see the Muslim world rise in condemnation of this foul act
I wait with baited breath to see the Muslim world rise in condemnation of this foul actOriginal post by LordMarmalade
Just awful I wait with baited breath to see the Muslim world rise in condemnation of this foul act
I wait with baited breath to see the Muslim world rise in condemnation of this foul actHow can they not
it's sickening.. Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by LordMarmalade
Just awful I wait with baited breath to see the Muslim world rise in condemnation of this foul act
I wait with baited breath to see the Muslim world rise in condemnation of this foul actIn before...
Why should they? They didn't do it you sickening islamaphobe and besides these murderers weren't real Muslims etc etc etc
inb4
•
Islam is a religion of peace
•
These people are not true Muslims
•
It's the west's fault
•
He shouldn't have wrote that blog
Original post by joey11223
No you are incorrect, in fact the method of the killing may be a bit too much but you have to remember maybe he has insulted the prophet Muhammad at some point and obviously when people do that they have to realise how Muslims might react cos they love the prophet so much you see. I mean imagine someone called your kid ugly or insulted your partner? You'd hack and slash with that machete until the drains ran red with blood right? You sure would. That's why it happens when people insult Muhammad cos he's so super important he's more important than your family, that warlord who pretty much lived a millennium ago. Now you may say to me "but why can't they just ignore it, take the moral high ground?", well that's all and good but is that really what a kick ass warlord would have done? No sir, you offend his honour, you lose some limbs.
...I hope this has cleared things up.
...I hope this has cleared things up.
Surely it's still a peaceful conquest? I mean, only one person died.
Original post by Raymat
Is it even safe for people to even be going holidays to such countries? I would never want to live in such a country due to all the hostility, grudge and jealousy from the average person there. Don't know why Bengali parents invest so much in building houses in Bangladesh for their 'British Bengali' kids as it seems unlikely they will want to go and live there.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/27/american-atheist-blogger-hacked-to-death-in-bangladesh?CMP=share_btn_fb
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/27/american-atheist-blogger-hacked-to-death-in-bangladesh?CMP=share_btn_fb
You are Bangladeshi yourself and you are making a thread bashing your country... Surprising. One incident and you label all of your fellow Bengalis as evil.
Of course it's safe to go to holidays to such countries especially if you are a Muslim which I assume most Bengalis are.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by The_K1NG
You are Bangladeshi yourself and you are making a thread bashing your country... Surprising. One incident and you label all of your fellow Bengalis as evil.
Of course it's safe to go to holidays to such countries especially if you are a Muslim which I assume most Bengalis are.
Of course it's safe to go to holidays to such countries especially if you are a Muslim which I assume most Bengalis are.
The possibility of being hacked to death part isn't what I call safe.
Original post by Groot
The possibility of being hacked to death part isn't what I call safe.
Yeah like these kind of things can't happen here. And besides he was hacked to death because he was an atheist. But chances of that happening would have been far less if he happened to be a Muslim.
Original post by The_K1NG
Yeah like these kind of things can't happen here. And besides he was hacked to death because he was an atheist. But chances of that happening would have been far less if he happened to be a Muslim.
That's supposed to make me feel safe there how? I'm not Muslim.
Original post by Groot
That's supposed to make me feel safe there how? I'm not Muslim.
But you wouldn't go there anyway. Most people who would go to Bangladesh are Muslims.
Original post by The_K1NG
You are Bangladeshi yourself and you are making a thread bashing your country... Surprising. One incident and you label all of your fellow Bengalis as evil.
Of course it's safe to go to holidays to such countries especially if you are a Muslim which I assume most Bengalis are.
Of course it's safe to go to holidays to such countries especially if you are a Muslim which I assume most Bengalis are.
It's a bit of a **** hole though. If you're not Bengali they pretty much just stare at you like you are some alien.
Reminded me of this
Original post by The_K1NG
You are Bangladeshi yourself and you are making a thread bashing your country... Surprising. One incident and you label all of your fellow Bengalis as evil.
Of course it's safe to go to holidays to such countries especially if you are a Muslim which I assume most Bengalis are.
Of course it's safe to go to holidays to such countries especially if you are a Muslim which I assume most Bengalis are.
1) What's surprising about me bashing my country? Shouldn't I have the right to criticize my own country? There are negative things about Bangladesh and I know Bengali people more well than you so don't teach me. My dad has been through loads of f****d up crap there and so there is a legit reason to be critical of the nature of people in that country.
2) I didn't even say some Bengali people are evil let alone all Bengali people are evil so don't make silly claims. Being jealous doesn't mean you're evil nor does grudge and hostility. They could be for different reason such as revenge or hurt, not just because they're evil.
(edited 9 years ago)
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