Another Bangladeshi blogger, Niloy Chakraborty Neel was hacked to death by religious fundamentalists on Friday. He’s the fourth secular blogger to be killed in a gruesome manner after the religious fundamentalists killed bloggers Avijit Roy, Ahmed Rajib Haider and Ananta Bijoy Das.
Khilgaon police officer in charge, Mustafizur Rahman said, “Niloy Neel was killed by unidentified assailants inside his fourth-floor flat at North Gorhan in the capital Dhaka around 1:45 pm on Friday.”
Imran H Sarkar, head of the Bangladesh Blogger and Activist Network, told the BBC, “Neel had been an anti-extremist voice of reason. He was the voice against fundamentalism and extremism and was even a voice for minority rights- especially women’s rights and the rights of indigenous people.”
In his writing, Neel had demanded capital punishment for Islamist leaders, who were convicted of war crimes during Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971.
There are many secular bloggers, who have complained of threats to their lives. Not too long ago, another Ananya Azad had told www.jantakareporter.com the risks to members of independent blogging community in Bangladesh.
He had said how they continuously faces threats from “certain sections of hard liners who are hand in glove with terrorist organisations and want to bring about a ‘Talibanization” of Bangladesh.”
He had said, ” Freedom of speech and expression along with liberal thinking is being hampered. Some dream of converting Bangladesh into Pakistan but I vow to keep fighting these communal forces, not with weapons but my pen.”