The New York Times reportss report from Reuters:
DHAKA — Attackers armed with machetes killed a blogger in Bangladesh on Friday, the fourth killing of an online critic of religious extremism in less than six months.
Niloy Chatterjee, 40, who advocated secularism, was killed in his flat in the capital Dhaka, said police official Mustafizur Rahman.
"We are speechless. He was demanding justice for the killing of other bloggers," said Imran Sarker, head of a network of activists and bloggers.
"Who will be next for demanding justice for Niloy?"
Chatterjee, who used the pen-name Niloy Neel, was a critic of religious extremism that led to bombings in mosques and the killing of civilians, Sarker said.
The case of Avijit Roy was described by his wife, Bonya Ahmed,
in a previous diary that I published.
This is hugely sad and apart from the personal tragedy involved, also is a set-back in Bangladesh's ongoing struggle to be a secular and liberal nation.
A little more information below the fold.
These are from Taslima Nasreen's tweets. FYI, about Taslima Nasreen from Wiki:
Taslima Nasrin (also Taslima Nasreen, born 25 August 1962) is a Bangladeshi author and former physician who has lived in exile since 1994. From a literary profile as a poet in the late 1980s, she rose to global fame by the end of the 20th century owing to her essays and novels with feminist views and criticism of religion.
Since leaving Bangladesh in 1994 on account of threat calls, she has lived in many countries; for eight years after she was forced to flee the Indian state of West Bengal she lived in New Delhi, now she has been relocated to US after death threats by islamic radicals. In 2015 she was threatened with death by Al Qaeda-linked extremists, and so the Center for Inquiry assisted her in traveling to the United States, where she now lives.
She advocates secular humanism, freedom of thought, gender equality, and human rights by publishing, lecturing, and campaigning.[citation needed]. She has been unable to return either to her home in Bangladesh (since 1994) or to her adopted home in Bengali-speaking West Bengal in India (since 2008)
Here are the tweets:
Another Bangladeshi atheist blogger called Niloy Neel has been hacked to death today. : (
Niloy Neel went to police station for filing FIR.Police advised him to leave the country.He could not leave.Finally Islamists made him leave
You will be hacked to death in Bangladesh if you criticise Islam. If you are from non -Muslim background you'll be killed first.
Hasina doesn't take action agnst the killers who killed atheist bloggers in B'desh.She's afraid if she takes action,she wll b called atheist
Notes: FIR is the First Information Report, essentially a filed and accepted complaint to the police, it is supposed to set the wheels of criminal justice into motion.
Hasina is Sheikh Hasina, the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh, daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman who was the founding father of Bangladesh. While ostensibly on the side of secularism and liberalism, the toxic politics of Islam in Bangladesh keep her government from being more active in going after criminal Islamists. The situation was well-described by Bonya Ahmed in her talk referenced above the fold.
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The Indian channel NDTV has this report:
Dhaka: Niloy Neel, 40, was slaughtered inside his home in Dhaka this afternoon, making him the fourth secular blogger to be killed in Bangladesh since February.
An unknown man knocked on Mr Neel's fourth-floor residence around 1:20 pm and said he wanted to take the flat for rent. When Mr Neel said it was unavailable, the man made a phone call and within moments, two men rushed in, armed with machetes and a gun.
Mr Neel's wife and sister were locked in the verandah at gunpoint, the blogger dragged to another room and his throat slit. Most of his wounds were around the neck and head, a senior police officer said.
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The wife and sister shouted for help from the verandah but got no help. The police arrived within 15 minutes of the incident, he said, but the killers had fled.
Ansarullah Al Islam, which describes itself as the Bangladesh chapter of Al Qaeda, has claimed responsibility for Mr Neel's death, according to Daily Star, a Dhaka newspaper.
Niloy Neel was associated with Gonojagoran Manch, the organisation behind the powerful Shahbag movement against Islamic Jihadists. The organisation's head, Imran H Sarkar, said, "Now we are not even safe in our homes. Niloy had been receiving threat calls and had gone to the police to file a complaint. He had told me the police said, 'just go away abroad'."
Mr Neel is the fourth blogger to be killed in Bangladesh this year. Abhijit Roy, a well-known blogger and an American citizen, had been hacked to death near Dhaka University in February. A few days later, another blogger Owashiqur Rehman was murdered and, in May, Ananta Bijoy Das was killed in Sylhet.
Activists say the government is not doing enough to ensure safety for bloggers even though the jihadist group Ansarullah Bangla had circulated a list of 80 bloggers on their hit list.
Notes: "Gonojagoran Manch" literally translates to "People Awakening Platform".