A SOLEMN TRIBUTE TO AVIJIT ROY, A BRAVE BANGLADESI BLOGGER

By LB THAPA

Sometime in the past, we had lost a brave blogger. He always advocated freedom of speech through his popular blog Mukto Mona. He was a writer and a campaigner of free-thinking. Avijit Roy was born and had his early education in Bangladesh. He came to the limelight with his eight books in Bengali. He was also writing articles on science, skepticism, and rationalism.

He founded Mukto Mona (free thinkers) in 2001. Through this blog, he sharply criticized religious practices which were based on superstitions and discriminations. His prickly criticism of Islamic practices which he thought based on hollow principles made Islamic zealots hungry for his blood.  Jamaat-e-Islami, a radical Islamic group, had issued death threats to Avijit Roy. They were waiting for an opportunity when Avijit Roy comes within their range. When Avijit Roy reached within their striking zone, they destroyed him. As long as Avijit Roy was writing his blogs from America, he was out of reach of Jamaat-e-Islami.  

Avijit Roy believed in free thinking. He did not like religious groups dictating over people's lives. How they can make decisions for others. It is absolutely absurd and ridiculous. In the name of religion, these religious groups create opportunities to make people their slaves, thought Avijit Roy. He always stood against religious zealots and vehemently criticized them through his blog.   

Avijit Roy is not the first person to be killed by the Islamic radicals and he won't be the last as well. Such religious fanatics think that by killing the people like Avijit Roy, they can silence the voice of free-thinking. If they think like this then they are utterly wrong. If one Avijit Roy dies it will give birth to hundreds of Avijit Roy in days to come.

The crazy, religious groups feel proud of taking the lives of innocent people. Those precious lives lost in the hands of religious zealots had committed the only crimes that they had angered the religious zealots by their free thoughts. On 15 February 2013, an Islamic religious group had killed Ahmed Rajib Haider. Another blogger Asif Mohiuddin was brutally attacked. Asif Mohiuddin is the winner of the BOBs award for online activism. His blog was banned by the government and he was sent to jail for insulting Islam and Mohammad. Later Bangladeshi government arrested many free-thinking bloggers and put them in jail. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Reporters without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists collectively condemned the imprisonment of bloggers and torturing them. 

 

Avijit Roy and his wife. Photo: blogs voanews.com

Avijit Roy stood on the side of those jailed bloggers who dared to speak the truth. He campaigned against the religious fanatics and wrote extensively in various media in general and in Mukto Mona in particular. Avijit Roy declared war against religious zealots. By doing this Avijit Roy did also stand in the line of Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasrin, Hemant Mehta, Maryam Namazie, PZ Myers, Anu Muhammad, Ajoy Roy, Qayyum Chowdhury, Ramendu Majumdar and Muhammad Zafar Iqbal.

As long as Avijit Roy was out of Bangladesh he was safe, but in Bangladesh, he could never be safe as there were many organizations that were thirsty for his blood. It was a grave mistake Roy had committed by visiting Bangladesh. His friends and his wife had advised him not to go to Bangladesh, but Roy was adamant. When Roy did not change his mind, his wife accompanied him to attend a Book Fair program in Bangladesh. On the fateful evening of 26 February 2015, two men armed with sharp daggers pulled down Avijit Roy and his wife from the rickshaw. The assailants stabbed Avijit Roy to death. Roy's wife tried her best to protect her husband's life but all in vain. In the scuffle, she also received some deep cuts in her hands, arms, and head…but she was alive. Eyewitnesses said that there were policemen standing nearby who looked at the horror like mute spectators. They did not make an iota of effort to save Avijit Roy's life. Had the policemen acted timely, Avijit Roy's life could be saved and he would be alive today.

Soon after the incident, an Islamic outfit group named Ansar Bangla took responsibility for the brutal murder of Avijit Roy. Avijit's body was placed at Dhaka University, where all people who believe in free thinking paid tribute to the brave blogger. In fact Avijit Roy is not with us in his physical body but his courage and work will always guide several other people in days to come.

Thank you very much for reading this article. I hope you liked this article. I will be glad if you take a little time and make a comment about this article. Your comment is highly appreciated.

LB Thapa in the premises of Lumbini. Photo: Goma Gurung

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