Human Rights Watch (HRW) has termed the killing of secular blogger Ananta Bijoy Das as a part of an alarming trend of violent intolerance toward freedom of religion and speech in Bangladesh.
Brad Adams, the director of the rights organisation, made the comment in a press release issued on Tuesday.
In the statement, Adams said: “This pattern of vicious attacks on secular and atheist writers not only silences the victims but also sends a chilling message to all in Bangladesh who espouse independent views on religious issues.”
Human Rights Watch also called on the Bangladeshi government to extend police protection to all those who appear on so-called atheist blogger hit-lists allegedly drawn up by militant Islamist groups.
“The Bangladesh government needs to act swiftly to bring to justice those responsible for these brutal attacks, and to make clear public statements that attacking freedom of religion and expression will not be tolerated,” he said.
The HRW director said: “When the authorities jail atheist or secular bloggers for nothing more than expressing their opinion about religion, it suggests that the government agrees with radicals who are butchering people on Bangladesh’s streets.
“This sends the wrong signal to society, which should be hearing from the government that it stands with those expressing peaceful opinions,” it notes.
The statement said the murders of Ananta and others come amid a tense political standoff between Bangladesh’s ruling party, the Awami League, and the main opposition parties, the Bangladesh National Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Friends and family of Ananta and Avijit both reportedly received threats and warnings prior to their murders, and had been told by those who threatened them that they were on these hit-lists, HRW said quoting media reports.
Ananta was attacked by four men wielding machetes as he was on his way to work on Tuesday morning. He died instantly.
Ananta, a banker, wrote blogs for Mukto-Mona, a website that had been moderated by another secular blogger, Avijit Roy, until he was killed in a similar attack in February in Dhaka.
A secular blogger, Oyasiqur Rahman, was hacked to death in March 2015.
In February 2013, atheist blogger, Ahmed Rajib Haider, was stabbed to death.
A month later in March 2013, blogger Asif Mohiuddin who wrote blogs critical of aspects of Islam, was severely injured in a similar attack, the statement added quoting media reports.