Writers from all over the world have urged Bangladesh to stop the killing of secular bloggers and bring the perpetrators to justice.
They urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government to do everything possible and prevent recurrence of such horrific incidents.
PEN, a global writers' platform, and other noted writers from across the globe condemned the deaths in an open letter on Thursday.
In the letter, published in the UK-based Guardian , 178 writers came together to protest the deaths of Ananta Bijoy Das, Oyashiqur Rahman Babu and Avijit Roy, three of their colleagues who were hacked to death on the streets in the last three months.
They said they were “shocked and horrified” by the murder of 32-year-old blogger and editor Ananta Bijoy Das, the latest in a series of such gruesome murders.
The writers said they are “gravely concerned” by this pattern of violence against writers and journalists who are peacefully expressing their views, saying freedom of expression is a fundamental right under Bangladesh’s constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
They called on the Bangladeshi authorities to swiftly and impartially investigate Das’ death as well as the murders of Roy and Babu, and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice in accordance with international fair trial standards.
They also demanded that the authorities do all in their power to provide protection and support to bloggers and other writers at risk in Bangladesh, in accordance with Bangladesh’s obligations under national and international laws.
Ananta Bijoy Das was hacked to death on his way to work by a masked machete-wielding gang of four in Sylhet on 12 May. Prior to his death, Das had reportedly received a number of death threats from Islamist militants, and his name had appeared in two assassination lists published in the Bangladeshi media, alongside those of other secular bloggers described as anti-Islamic and blasphemous.
Just a few months earlier, on 26 February, Avijit Roy, a fellow blogger and close friend of Das, was executed in an almost identical manner. Another blogger, Babu's murder also bears telltale resemblance.
Roy and his wife, Rafida Ahmed Bonya, were viciously attacked by unknown assailants on Dhaka University campus which was at that time abuzz with visitors of the famous annual book fair marking Bangladesh's Language Movement. Roy died soon afterwards and his wife was severely injured. A militant Islamist group claimed responsibility.
A month later, on 29 March, blogger Oyashiqur Rahman Babu was murdered just 500 yards from his home in Begunbari, Dhaka. Police have claimed that the attackers targeted the 27-year-old because they believed he had defamed Islam through his writings on websites, forums and social media. Two madrassa students were apprehended, quite literally red handed, fleeing the scene.
At least three other writers have been attacked or murdered in Bangladesh since 2013. Although there have been several arrests, no one has been brought to the book to account for those attacks.
The list of the writers:
Elisabeth Abendroth Jim Aitken Truijens Aleid Frank Mackay Anim-Appiah Frankie Asare-Donkoh President, Ghana PEN Centre Margaret Atwood Michael Augustin Dr Hanan Awwad President, Palestine PEN Cecilia Balcázar Elke Bannach María Cecilia Barbetta Niels Barfoed Shrabani Basu Nazmi Bayrı Ronald Bos Marian Botsford Fraser Chair of Writers in Prison Committee, PEN International Suzanne Brøgger Dr Barbara Bronnen Ricky Brown Urvashi Butalia Joyce Caplan Metin Cengiz Sudeep Chakravarty Anne Clarke Jennifer Clement Jo Clifford Anne Connolly Daniela Dahn Swapan Dasgupta Rachna Davidar Aline Davidoff President, PEN Mexico Alexis de Roode Siddharta Deb Job Degenaar Antonio Della Rocca President, PEN Trieste Renan Demirkan Meghnad Desai Faisal Devji Dr Mathias Schreiber Dr Burkhart Veigel Suzanne Egerton John Elliott Peter Englund Haydar Ergülen Roberto Fabris Moris Farhi Fahimeh Farsaie Charles Foran Öyvind Foss Maureen Freely President, English PEN Uwe Friesel Jostein Gaarder Meenakshi Ganguly Nina George Amitav Ghosh Jo Glanville Director, English PEN Brigitte C Gotthold Fiona Graham Gloria Guardia Michael Guggenheimer Apar Gupta Daniel Hahn Kaiser Haq Josef Haslinger President, German PEN Gert Heidenreich Christoph Hein Hallgrímur Helgason Werner Holzer Jules Horne Iman Humaydan Khademul Islam Member, Bangladesh PEN Anjali Joseph Wim Jurg Sirpa Kähkönen President, Finnish PEN Raghu Karnad Lucina Kathmann Jan Kemp Andrej Khadanovich President, Belarusian PEN Charlie King Tanja Kinkel Karl Ove Knausgaard Sibylle Knauss Christoph König Anja Kovacs Hari Kunzru Ola Larsmo President, Swedish PEN Joanne Leedom-Ackerman Joan Lingard Chiara Macconi Kona Macphee Rishi Majumder Emile Martel President, Quebec PEN Yann Martel Christine McKenzie President, PEN Melbourne Kyle Mewburn President, PEN NZ Alison Miller Sam Miller Denise Mina Rohinton Mistry Petra Morsbach Lina Morselli Neel Mukherjee Ayten Mutlu Maureen Myant Vayoo Naidu Hege Newth Nouri William Nygaar President, Norwegian PEN Harry Oberländer Hans-Christian Oeser Vida Ognjenovic Per Øhrgaard President, Danish PEN Audur Ava Ólafsdóttir Zeynep Oral President, PEN Turkey Margie Orford President, PEN South Africa Mete Özel Kaiser ÖzHun Ra Page Founder, Comma Press Peter Parker Per Petterson Tom Pow Lutz Götze Gabriele Pommerin-Götze Christoph Lindenmeyer Jean Rafferty Anita Raghawan Ashis Ray Monika Rinck Judith Rodriguez Thomas Rothschild Nilanjana Roy Anuradha Roy Elisabeth Ruge Salman Rushdie Gita Sahgal Minoli Salgado Alejandro Sánchez-Aizcorbe Ulrike Sandig Philippe Sands QC Ashwin Sanghi Rajdeep Sardesai Ayse Sarisayan Carole Satyamurthy John Ralston Saul President, PEN International Samantha Schnee Christa Schuenke Andrew Sclater Sjón President, Icelandic PEN Morelle Smith Claire Squires Elizabeth Starcevic Leslie Stevenson Liam Stewart Klaus Theweleit Annika Thor Elsa Tió Pragya Tiwari Colm Tóibín Carles Torner Director, PEN Internatioal Salil Tripathi Cynthia Troup Aleid Truijens Tina Uebel Linn Ullmann Manon Uphoff President, PEN Netherlands Amir Valle Ojeda Karthika VK Martin A Völker Gabriele von Arnim Catherine Vuylsteke Per Wästberg Harry Watson Herbert Wiesner Les Wilson Yazici Yasemin Halim Yazıcı Çetin Yiğenoğlu Arnold Zable Atiya Zaidi
