Noted liberal writer Avijit Roy hacked to death in Bangladesh

Dhaka, Feb 27: The radical school of thought has claimed yet another liberal bringing back memories of the Charlie Hebdo attack. Avijit Roy an eminent writer and blogger who was accused of being anti-Islamic was hacked to death at Dhaka, Bangladesh last night.

In the attack, his blogger wife Rafida too was injured after some men attacked them at the Dhaka university last night. According to the media in Bangladesh this could be the handiwork of the Jamaat-e-Islami, which had been issuing threats to him for long.

Roy who was based in the United States of America had come to Bangladesh to attend a book fair where two of his books were slated for release. He and his wife were attacked by unidentified men. The two were rushed to hospital, but Roy succumbed to injuries.

Who is Avijit Roy?

Avijit Roy was an eminent writer and also the founder of the 'Mukto Mona' blog. He was also the writer of several books, which have been in the eye of the storm. The threats he and his publishers received were common in the past several years.

Last year, a bookstore called Rokomari.com had to stop selling his books following militant threats. Farabi Shafiur Rahman, an Islamist extremist allegedly linked to Jamaat-e-Islami had issued a death threat to both Roy and Rokomari.com.

A Bangladesh-born engineer, Avijit lived in the United States of America. He wrote several books on philosophy, scientific thought and human rights issues. Biswas and Bigyan (Belief and Science), Abishwasher Darshan (philosophy of atheism), Samakamita: Baigyanik ebong Samajmanastattik are, some of the books that he wrote.

His wife Rafida too had been under threat since the radicals believed that she had married a Hindu man and was supporting his articles against Islam.

Why was Roy under threat?

Several radicals accused him of being anti-Islamic. They accused him of promoting atheism and also defaming Prophet Muhammad. Roy was under threat for his unapologetic writing.

He had been threatened several times in the past. Islamic radicals had called for a ban on his books and even threatened several of his publishers in the past. The Jamaat-e-Islami in particular was upset with his writings.

The death of Roy brings back memories of similar incidents which led to the killing of Professor Humayun Asad and Ahmed Rajib Haider both writers who were killed in 2004 and 2014 respectively.

OneIndia News