Sunday, August 9, 2015

Plight of secular bloggers in Bangladesh: Official apathy and indifference emboldens murderous Islamic extremists

Again! Again, murderous violence against a secular, atheist blogger by vile, despicable Islamic extremists in Bangladesh!

The shocking news brought a sense of overwhelming numbness that altogether masked my usual emotional reactions at such news - bitter sadness, frustration and impotent rage, and eventually resigned acceptance. This was the fifth such incident since February 2013 - a secular blogger violently cut down in his prime for daring to express his views championing secular humanism, science and rationality; Rajiv Haidar, Avijit Roy, Washiqur Rahman, Ananta Bijoy Das, and now, Niladri Chatterjee - popularly known by his pen-name, 'Niloy Neel'. Another such blogger, Asif Mohiuddin, had thankfully survived being stabbed in January 2013.