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print versionCoordinated machete attack on publishers of secular authors in Bangladesh
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In what now appears to be a coordinated attack, at least one person has been killed and three people have been injured, in two attacks on publishing houses in Dhaka, Bangladesh this afternoon.
First, three men, all secular bloggers, one also a publisher and another also a poet, were attacked at Shuddho-Shor, a publishing house for progressive and secular books in the Lalmatia neighborhood of Dhaka. The attackers were armed with machetes and firearms, and it is likely the publisher Ahmed Rashid Tutul, who had received direct death threats from Islamists unhappy with output, was the primary target. The six or so attackers appear to have tricked their way in representing themselves as book-buyers.
Second, this was followed by a further attack against Jagriti publishing house in the Shahbag neighborhood. The publisher Faysal Arefin Dipon is reported to have been killed. Jagriti publishes on a broad range of topics, and had published Avijit Roy’s Philosophy of Disbelief, first published by Shuddho-Shor.
Those attacked at Shuddho-Shor were rushed to hospital. Tareq Rahim, the poet, is the most critically injured from the Shuddho-Shor attack, according to accounts from the hospital. The publisher Ahmed Rashid Tutul may also be in critical condition. Ranadipam Basu posted to his Facebook immediately after the attack, confirming he is alive and breaking the news.
The attacks today by at least one group of armed assailants armed with machetes and firearms, appears to conform to a string of recent murders targeting secular writers, always with machetes or cleavers, which in 2015 has taken four lives: Avijit Roy in February, Washiqur Rahman in March, Ananta Bijoy Das in May, and Niladri Chatterjee (aka Niloy Neel) in August. In 2013, blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider was hacked to death, and blogger Asif Mohiuddin was similarly attacked, but survived, and was then arrested over his atheist writing.
Ahmed Rashid Tutul (centre) at his publishing house book stall at the Dhaka International Book Fair, 26 February 2015. This is the night Avijit Roy (right) was murdered, and Roy’s wife Rafida Ahmed (left) was seriously injured.
Ahmed Rashid Tutul (centre) at his publishing house book stall at the Dhaka International Book Fair, 26 February 2015. This is the night Avijit Roy (right) was murdered, and Roy’s wife Rafida Ahmed (left) was seriously injured.
Ahmed Rashid Tutul is the courageous publisher of books including the works of murdered author on science and Humanism, Avijit Roy. The publishing house, Shuddho-Shor (শৠদৠধসৠবর‌), meaning “Pure Voice†, is popular among progressive, secular writers and readers, and has continued to publish despite receiving numerous direct threats against the lives of those working there.
On the night that Avijit Roy was murdered, Ahmed Rashid Tutul hosted a book publication ceremony with Avijit Roy and a number of others in front of the Shuddo-Shor stall at the annual book fair that takes place in Dhaka, Capital of Bangladesh.
Ahmed has been working on new books to be published at next year’s book fair, including a book on atheism.
Fellow secular blogger Arif Rahman, comments: “Ahmed is fearless in a sense, when Bangladesh is consistently sliding down the path of religious fanaticism, Government itself was banning books, he is hell bent on continuing to publish progressive and secular books. In the toxic and fearful atmosphere of curbed freedom of speech, his efforts in keeping the free thought alive is cherished and loved by so many! … When his peers in publishing industry was afraid to publish books that could potentially ‘harm religious sentiment’, Ahmed continues to push the envelope and thereby helping to keep the dying candle of free speech in Bangladesh.â€
The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) has repeatedly criticised police and officials’ handling of the string of attacks, and in August organised alongside a number of secular Bangladeshi writers and academics a mass joint letter of protest to the Bangladesh Government.
we-are-bangladeshi-humanistsIHEU Director of Communications, Bob Churchill, comments: “We know what comes next because we’ve seen it before. In a few weeks or months, police and media will perform a merry dance, arresting and parading a few different groups or individuals detained in connection with the latest attack. They’ll parade someone for the cameras. Then there will be no trial, no true justice. And the same thing will happen again and again.
“How many more times must we see these bloody and callous acts of hatred before the authorities wake up to the true problem. Officials must stop threatening to arrest, and stop blaming atheists themselves for writing books and blogs. To victim-blame them will continue to empower the fundamentalist killers and undermine the very basis of secular democracy itself.
“Though there are many similarities with earlier outrages, today’s coordinated attacks may represent a significant emboldening and an up-step in the campaign to terrorize and silence the voices of humanists, atheists and secularists. The Bangaldeshi authorities must now accept that their failure to achieve justice and the appeasement of fundamentalist violence is not working, and is costing life after life.â€
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Bangladesh: Authorities must protect secular writers and their publishers
London, 1 November 2015
The Bangladesh government is abjectly failing in its obligation to protect secular writers and their publishers from harm, PEN International and PEN Bangladesh said today, after attacks on Saturday left publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan dead and three others seriously injured.
‘The primary blame for this appalling tragedy rests with the assassins who must be found, arrested, charged, and prosecuted. But the Bangladesh Government cannot absolve itself. We must remember that this is the fifth known incident in Bangladesh this year, and over the past few years Bangladeshi bloggers have increasingly lived with fear,’ said Jennifer Clement, president of PEN International.
‘This shows colossal failure on the part of the government, which has not only been meek in its response but weak in meeting its primary obligation, of protecting the rights of Bangladeshis to express themselves freely, without fear.’
Publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan of the publishing house Jagriti Prokashoni had published the book Biswasher Virus (The Virus of Faith) by writer/blogger Avijit Roy, who was murdered in February 2015. Dipan was hacked to death in his office in the capital Dhaka and had reportedly previously received death threats.
‘The Bangladesh Government has shown unusual zeal in launching prosecutions against bloggers whose writing, according to the government, offends religious sentiments. It has not shown similar commitment to reassure writers that their freedoms are protected, which has given vigilantes and fundamentalists the encouragement to attack bloggers, writers, and publishers,’ said Salil Tripathi, Chair of PEN International Writers in Prison Committee.
‘The Government simply cannot tell writers that they must watch their words; it has to restrain and bring to justice the men wielding the machetes.’
Just hours before, three other bloggers and writers were shot and attacked with machetes in the office of the publishing house Shuddhashar Prokashani. Publisher and writer Ahmedur Rashid Chowdhury (also known as Tutul) is critically injured, according to reports. Tutul has published the work of two Bangladeshi writers killed this year – Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Dash – and has also written two poetry books – Durbalataguchchha and Mrita Ghorhar Hresha. He had received death threats and reported in the days leading up to the attack that he thought he was being followed. Writers Sudeep Kumar Ray Barman, who writes under the name of Ranadipam Basu, and Tareq Rahim were also injured.
‘PEN Bangladesh also strongly condemns these brutal attacks,’ said Syeda Aireen Jaman, the Secretary General of PEN’s Bangladesh Centre.
‘We urge the government to trace and arrest these murderers and bring them to trial. We also urge the authorities to protect bloggers and publishers by whatever strategy is necessary.’
A group calling itself Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) claimed responsibility for the attacks via a Twitter account in the name of Ansar Al Islam.
The Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police has told journalists that the attacks are under investigation.
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graphic via Daily Star
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The Daily Star - 1 November 2015
Editorial
Free thinking under attack again
We strongly condemn
In two violent and gory incidents yesterday, four publishers and bloggers were attacked resulting in the death of one and severe injuries to three others who were in critical condition till going to press. These are direct attacks on our freedom of speech and thought and we condemn them in the strongest terms.
In one incident Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, a friend and publisher of Avijit Roy, along with two colleagues, was attacked in his office in Dhaka by a group of men, reportedly armed with machetes and guns. In the other incident later in the day, Faisal Arefin Dipan, another publisher, was attacked in Shahbag and succumbed to his injuries.
The way these attacks were carried out speaks volume about the ever increasing recklessness of the extremists who commit such crimes. In the first case, the armed assailants reportedly barged in Tutul’s office in broad day light and locked him along with two of his colleagues from outside. All three were stabbed and at least one of them was shot.
The question that looms large at this point is this: Did the law enforcement agencies provide Tutul with adequate security, if at all, after he filed a complaint with the police, being threatened with death on Facebook following the murder of Roy earlier this year?
These attacks give a new dimension to the whole thing; not only bloggers, but also those associated with them are now being targeted. And the extremists seem to be operating with impunity. Regrettably, so far, of the five blogger-murder cases, some progress has been made only in one. There must be a well-coordinated effort to identify these extremist groups as well as their sources of funding, anticipate their actions and catch and award them the due punishment.
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Dhaka Tribune, 1 November 2015
Bangladesh faces an existential crisis
Tribune Editorial
The two attacks yesterday that left one killed and three seriously injured make clear the extent of the threat that militants pose to the nation.
That the targets were two publishers of the work of slain writer Avijit Roy, together with two more secular and free-thinking bloggers, leaves no room for doubt as to the mind-set of the perpetrators and their motive for their murderous attacks.
We may not know precisely who committed the attacks, but we know, beyond any shadow of doubt, that they must have been Islamist militants, striking yet another blow against Bangladesh’s proud history of secularism and free-thinking, in their efforts to silence secular voices and strike terror into the heart of the entire nation.
We can no longer remain complacent in the face of this threat. Enough is enough. The militants have made it abundantly clear that they are playing for keeps and that they are in it for the long haul.
It is us or them. The soul of the country is at stake.
Make no mistake, we are now in the midst of a battle for the very existence of this country as the free and independent nation we fought for and proudly built up over the past four decades.
The good news is that the militants and their fellow travelers who would want to turn Bangladesh into a religious theocracy and will stop at nothing to achieve their goal, are nothing more than a handful, reviled by the vast majority.
A united and determined Bangladeshi people will face down this threat. We have faced down far worse in the past and can do so again now. We will prevail.
We are not afraid and we will not be cowed. But we need to take this threat seriously. Not just the government and law enforcement, but every one of us who does not wish to see Bangladesh go down the dark path to militancy and theocracy.
We must pour all of our resources into battling this scourge, and we cannot rest until it has been vanquished. We must all unite against this murderous and barbarous foe and together ensure that it is defeated. The time for complacency is over.
We can’t say that we haven’t been warned.
