Avijit Roy

Avijit Roy

Roy in 2012
Native name অভিজিৎ রায়
Born (1972-09-12)12 September 1972
Bangladesh
Died 26 February 2015(2015-02-26) (aged 42)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Occupation Critic, columnist, IT engineer
Language Bengali, English
Nationality American, Bangladeshi
Education PhD in Biomedical Engineering
Alma mater BUET, National University of Singapore
Genre New Atheism, Science, Anarchism
Spouse Rafida Ahmed Bonya
Children Trisha Ahmed[1]
Relatives Ajoy Roy (father)
Shefali Roy (mother)[2]
Website
mukto-mona.com

Avijit Roy (Bengali: অভিজিৎ রায়; 12 September 1972 – 26 February 2015)[3] was a Bangladeshi-American online activist, writer and blogger known for creating and administrating the Mukto-Mona, an Internet community for freethinkers, rationalists, skeptics, atheists and humanists of mainly Bengali and other South Asian descent.[4] Roy was an advocate of free expression in Bangladesh, coordinating international protests against government censorship and imprisonment of atheist bloggers. He was hacked to death by machete-wielding assailants in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 26 February 2015; Islamic militant organization Ansarullah Bangla Team claimed responsibility for the attack.[5][6]

Early life and education

His father, Ajoy Roy, was a professor of physics at University of Dhaka who received the Ekushey Padak award.[7] Avijit earned a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from BUET.[8][9][10] He earned a master's and doctoral degree in Biomedical Engineering from National University of Singapore.[11]

Career

In 2006, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia and worked as a software engineer.[3][12][13] Roy published eight books in Bengali.

Mukto-Mona

Roy was the founder[14] of the Bangladeshi Mukto-Mona (freethinkers) website which was one of the nominees of The Bobs (Best of Blogs) Award in the Best of Online Activism category.[15][16][17] The site published death threats that author Humayun Azad had received before he was assassinated.[18] Mukto-Mona began as a Yahoo group in May 2001, but became a website in 2002.[19]

Roy described his writing as "taboo" in Bangladesh.[20] He had received death threats from fundamentalist bloggers for his articles and books.[21][22] Rokomari.com, a Bangladeshi e-commerce site, stopped selling Roy's books after its owner received death threats from Islamists.[23][24]

Protests and advocacy

Our aim is to build a society which will not be bound by the dictates of arbitrary authority, comfortable superstition, stifling tradition, or suffocating orthodoxy but would rather be based on reason, compassion, humanity, equality and science.
— Avijit Roy[13]

A Bangladeshi group, Blogger and Online Activist Network (BOAN), initiated the 2013 Shahbag protests that sought capital punishment for the Islamist leader and war criminal Abdul Quader Molla as well as the removal of Jamaat-e-Islami from politics.[25][26] Islamist groups responded by organising protests calling for the execution of "atheist bloggers" accused of insulting Islam, and the introduction of a blasphemy law.[27][28] Many atheist bloggers who supported the Shahbag protests came under attack, and Ahmed Rajib Haider was killed by Islamist groups on 15 February 2013.[16] A month before the protest, blogger Asif Mohiuddin was attacked outside his house by four youths influenced by Anwar Al-Awlaki,[29] and Sunnyur Rahman, known as Nastik Nobi (Atheist Prophet), was stabbed on 7 March 2013.[30]

Asif Mohiuddin, a winner of the BOBs award for online activism, was on an Islamist hit list that also included the murdered sociology professor Shafiul Islam.[31] Mohiuddin's blog was shut down by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, and he was jailed for posting "offensive comments about Islam and Mohammed."[32][33] The secular government arrested several other bloggers and blocked about a dozen websites and blogs, as well as giving police protection to some bloggers.[4]

International organisations, including Human Rights Watch,[34] Amnesty International,[35] Reporters without Borders[36] and the Committee to Protect Journalists[37] condemned the imprisonment of bloggers and the climate of fear for journalists.

Avijit Roy wrote that he was disgusted that the Bangladeshi media portrayed young bloggers as "crooks in the public eye"[14] and wrote to Western media outlets and the Center for Inquiry[14] and the International Humanist and Ethical Union[38] for support. Roy went on to coordinate international protests in Dhaka, New York City, Washington, D.C., London, Ottawa and other cities in support of the jailed bloggers.[39][40] He was joined by writers, activists, and prominent secularists and intellectuals around the world including Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasrin, Hemant Mehta, Maryam Namazie, PZ Myers, Anu Muhammad, Ajoy Roy, Qayyum Chowdhury, Ramendu Majumdar and Muhammad Zafar Iqbal in publicly expressing their solidarity with the arrested bloggers.[40]

Murder

In 2015, Roy went to Dhaka with his wife during the Ekushey Book Fair.[41] On the evening of 26 February, he and his wife were returning home from the fair by bicycle rickshaw.[4] At around 8:30 pm, they were attacked near the Teacher Student Center intersection of Dhaka University by unidentified assailants. Two assailants stopped and dragged them from the rickshaw to the pavement before striking them with machetes, according to witnesses.[4] Roy was struck and stabbed with sharp weapons in the head. His wife was slashed on her shoulders and the fingers of her left hand were severed.[7] Both of them were rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. There Roy was pronounced dead around 10:30 pm.[20] His wife survived. In an interview with BBC's Newshour, Roy's wife said that police stood nearby when they were attacked on the spot but did not act.[42]

In a Twitter post on the day after his death, an Islamist group, calling itself Ansar Bangla-7, claimed responsibility for the killing.[5] Ansar Bangla-7 is said to be the same organization as Ansarullah Bangla Team.[43] A case of murder was filed by Roy's father without naming any suspects at Shahbagh thana on 27 February 2015.[1] According to police sources, they are investigating a local Islamist group that praised the killing.[44]

Avijit's body was placed at Aparajeyo Bangla in front of the Faculty of Arts building (Kala Bhavan) at Dhaka University on 1 March 2015 where people from all walks of life, including his friends, relatives, well-wishers, teachers and students, gathered with flowers to pay their respect to the writer.[45] As per Roy's wish, his body was handed over to Dhaka Medical College for medical research.[46]

On 6 March 2015, a four-member team of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) along with detective branch of Bangladesh Police inspected the spot where Roy was killed. The FBI members collected evidence from the site and took footage to help in the investigation.[47][48]

3 May 2015, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) claimed responsibility for the murder of Roy and the deaths of other "blasphemers" in Bangladesh in a report published by SITE intelligence group.[49]

Arrests

On 2 March 2015, Rapid Action Battalion arrested Farabi Shafiur Rahman, a radical Islamist. It was suspected by the police that Farabi had shared Roy's location, identity, family photographs, etc. with the killer(s).[50] Farabi had threatened Roy several times through blogs and social media sites including Facebook. He said on different posts and comments that Roy would be killed upon his arrival in Dhaka.[51][52]

Bangladesh's government decided to seek help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate the murder of Roy. The decision was taken following an offer by the United States.[53]

On 18 August 2015, three members of Ansarullah Bangla Team, including a British citizen, named Touhidur Rahman who police described as "the main planner of the attacks on Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das", had been arrested in connection with the two murders.[54]

Reactions

After the death of Roy, students, teachers, bloggers and intellectuals around the country gathered at Dhaka University, demanding quick arrest of the killers.[55][56] The Mukto-Mona website bore the message in Bengali "We are grieving but we shall overcome" against a black background.[44]

Secretary-General of the United Nations spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric condemned the killing and said "On the attack of the blogger, we spoke to our human rights colleagues who obviously condemned the attack and expressed the hope that the perpetrators will be quickly brought to justice through the due process of law."[57]

The head of Reporters without Borders Asia-Pacific stated "We are shocked by this act of barbarity" and added "It is unacceptable for [police] to spend so much time searching news outlets, arresting journalists, censoring news and investigating bloggers, when the many attacks on bloggers are still unpunished."[58]

The CEO of Index on Censorship, Jodie Ginsberg, said: "Our sympathies are with the family of Avijit Roy. Roy was targeted simply for expressing his own beliefs and we are appalled by his death and condemn all such killings."[59]

The Asia Program Coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists stated "This attack is emblematic of the culture of impunity that pervades Bangladesh, where the lack of accountability in previous attacks on the press continues to spurn [sic] a deadly cycle of violence."[60][61]

Humanist groups expressed horror at the loss of a colleague. The Center for Inquiry's chief UN representative stated "Avijit was brilliant, yes, and a devoted advocate of free expression and secularism, but also just a very good person."[62][1] Andrew Copson of the British Humanist Association, which awarded Roy and other bloggers the Free Expression Award in 2014,[63] said "With Avijit’s death, Bangladesh has lost not just a son, but a forceful proponent of human rights and equality for all its people."[64]

The British High Commissioner Robert Gibson expressed his concern in a tweet saying, "Shocked by the savage murder of Avijit Roy as I am by all the violence that has taken place in Bangladesh in recent months".[65]

Works

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sanchez, Ray (27 February 2015). "Prominent Bangladeshi-American blogger Avijit Roy killed". CNN. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  2. ↑ শেষ শ্রদ্ধার পর অভিজিতের মরদেহ বাসায়. Prothom Alo (in Bengali).
  3. 1 2 "Obituary: US-Bangladesh writer Avijit Roy". BBC News. 27 February 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "American atheist blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 27 February 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Ansar Bangla-7 claims Avijit killing responsibility". Prothom Alo. Transcom Group. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  6. ↑ "Assailants hack to death writer Avijit Roy, wife injured". bdnews24.com. Dhaka. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Blogger Avijit hacked to death on DU campus". New Age. Dhaka. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "Avijit epitomises spirit of humanity". bdnews24.com. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  9. ↑ "Bangladeshis protest after atheist writer Avijit Roy hacked to death". The Guardian. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  10. ↑ "Engineers vehicles of civilization, militancy its enemy: Inu". Bangladesh Sangbad Shangstha. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  11. ↑ Khan, Mozammel H. (28 February 2015). "A Shocking Crime". The Daily Star (Op-Ed). Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  12. ↑ Rishi Iyengar. "Bangladesh Authorities Arrest Suspect in American Blogger's Murder". Time Magazine. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  13. 1 2 "Atheist Blogger Avijit Roy Returning Bangladesh Risky". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 March 2015.
  14. 1 2 3 Avijit Roy (1 May 2013). "No Flag Large Enough to Cover the Shame – Guest Post from Dr. Avijit Roy". Center for Inquiry.
  15. ↑ "Mukto-Mona moderators". Mukto-Mona. Archived from the original on 2 December 2012.
  16. 1 2 "Activist, blogger and DW Bobs nominee Avijit Roy killed in Dhaka". Deutsche Welle. 26 February 2015.
  17. ↑ "Islam-kritischer Blogger ermordet". Tagesschau (Germany). Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  18. ↑ "Humayun Azad – A Truncated Life". Mukto-Mona. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  19. ↑ "Avijit Roy and His Legacy: Guest Post by Jahed Ahmed". Center for Inquiry. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  20. 1 2 "Avijit Roy Dead: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". heavy.com. 26 February 2015.
  21. ↑ "Islamic death threats over books by Avijit Roy". The Free Thinker. 20 March 2014.
  22. ↑ "RAB arrests Farabi over Avijit murder". bdnews24.com. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  23. ↑ "Bangladesh online bookstore drops author after death threats". Union of Catholic Asian News. 18 March 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  24. ↑ "Radical lslamists [sic] threaten Bangladeshi American Writer Avijit Roy". Policy Research Group Strategic Insight. 6 April 2014. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  25. ↑ "Bangladesh's rising voices". Al Jazeera. 19 February 2013.
  26. ↑ "4 years since the Shahbagh movement". Dhaka Tribune. 5 February 2017.
  27. ↑ "Hardline Muslims rally in Bangladesh amid shutdown". USA Today. Associated Press. 6 April 2013.
  28. ↑ Farid Ahmed (8 April 2013). "Bangladesh Islamists rally for blasphemy law". CNN.
  29. ↑ "4 held over attempt to kill blogger". The Daily Star. 2 April 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  30. ↑ "Blogger Saniur files case". bdnews24.com. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  31. ↑ "Bloggers on hit-list posted by supposed Islamist group in Bangladesh". Reporters without Borders. 19 November 2014.
  32. ↑ "Bangladesh gags award-winning blogger". Deutsche Welle. 25 May 2013.
  33. ↑ "Blogger granted bail on health grounds". Reporters without Borders. 7 August 2013.
  34. ↑ "Bangladesh: Crackdown on Bloggers, Editors Escalates". Human Rights Watch. 15 April 2013. "the government is abandoning any serious claim that it is committed to free speech", said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch."
  35. ↑ "Bangladesh: Further information: Detained editor alleges torture". Amnesty International. 17 April 2013. Blogger Asif Mohiudeen, arrested on 3 April for allegedly posting blasphemous comments online, remains in detention and at risk of torture
  36. ↑ "Call for detained blogger's immediate release". Reporters without Borders. 11 April 2013. Reporters Without Borders condemns the baseless judicial proceedings brought against the detained blogger Asif Mohiuddin, who could be tried and convicted on a charge of blasphemy and "hurting religious sentiments" at his next hearing
  37. ↑ "Attacks on the Press – Bangladesh". Committee to Protect Journalists. February 2014.
  38. ↑ "Humanists appalled at the murder of secular activist and writer Avijit Roy". International Humanist and Ethical Union. 26 February 2015.
  39. ↑ "Atheists Rally Around Jailed Bangladeshi Bloggers". The Huffington Post. Religion News Service. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  40. 1 2 Avijit Roy (8 May 2013). "The Struggle of Bangladeshi Bloggers". skeptic.com. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  41. ↑ "Writer Avijit Roy hacked dead, wife hurt near TSC". The Daily Star. Dhaka. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  42. ↑ "Bangladesh Police Stood Close By, Didn't Act: Slain Blogger Avijit Roy's Wife". Huffingtonpost. Reuters. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  43. ↑ "Al-Qaeda branch claims responsibility for murder of writer-blogger Avijit Roy: Rab, police doubt reported claim". The Daily Star. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  44. 1 2 "US-Bangladesh blogger Avijit Roy hacked to death". BBC News. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  45. ↑ "Hacked American blogger Avijit Roy laid to rest in Bangladesh". The Times of India. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  46. ↑ Monideepa Banerjie (1 March 2015). "Dhaka Pays Last Respects to Murdered Bangladeshi-American Blogger Avijit Roy". NDTV. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  47. ↑ "FBI team visits Avijit murder scene at DU". The Daily Star. 6 March 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  48. ↑ "FBI team collects evidence of Avijit murder". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  49. ↑ "Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent 'claims' murder of US citizen in Bangladesh". The Telegraph. Reuters. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  50. ↑ "Atheist blogger Avijit Roy 'was not just a person … he was a movement'". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  51. ↑ "Bangladesh Avijit Roy murder: Suspect arrested". BBC News. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  52. ↑ "Bangladesh authorities arrest man over atheist blogger's murder". The Guardian. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  53. ↑ "FBI to help probe murder of US blogger Avijit Roy in Bangladesh". Times of India. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  54. ↑ "Bangladesh arrests British citizen, said to be 'main planner' of murders of two bloggers". The Straits Times. Agence France-Presse. 18 August 2015.
  55. ↑ Manik, Julfikar Ali; Najar, Nida (28 February 2015). "Avijit Roy, Bangladeshi-American Writer, Is Killed by Machete-Wielding Assailants". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  56. ↑ "Immediate arrest of Avijit killers demanded". 27 February 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  57. ↑ "UN condemns Avijit killing". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  58. ↑ "Call for effective protection after another blogger hacked to death". Reporters Without Borders. 27 February 2015.
  59. ↑ "Index on Censorship condemns brutal murder of blogger Avijit Roy". 27 February 2015.
  60. ↑ "Blogger hacked to death, another seriously injured in Bangladesh". Committee to Protect Journalists.
  61. ↑ "American blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh". Aljazeera. 27 February 2015.
  62. ↑ "Statement on the Murder of Dr. Avijit Roy, Bangladeshi Ally and Friend". Center for Inquiry. 26 February 2015.
  63. ↑ "Bangladeshi bloggers Asif Mohiuddin and the late Ahmed Rajib win Free Expression Award at World Humanist Congress". British Humanist Association. 9 August 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  64. ↑ "Humanist blogger Avijit Roy hacked to death by Islamic fundamentalists in Dhaka". British Humanist Association. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  65. ↑ "British high commissioner shocked by Avijit murder". bdnews24.com. 27 February 2015.
  66. ↑ Lizzie Dearden (27 February 2015). "American-Bangladeshi atheist blogger Avijit Roy hacked to death by suspected Islamist extremists". The Independent.
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