Following the brutal murder of secular blogger Niladri Chatterjee Niloy, exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen has said no critic of fanatic Islam is safe in Bangladesh.
The writer, who was forced to leave Bangladesh in 1994 when extremists threatened to kill her for criticising Islam, also criticised the government and the law enforcers for their failure to catch the killers of Niloy.
In an opinion piece, published on Indian website Daily O, Taslima writes: "Sheikh Hasina’s government is morally culpable. I am squarely blaming the state for these massacres in instalment. Awami League’s secularism is only on papers. It’s a sham, because it has done nothing to save these important and urgent voices of reason."
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She also stated that both Hindus and Muslims are being targeted in Bangladesh for speaking out, adding that Hindus are more in danger.
Taslima said: "It’s not a question only having secular beliefs. If you are privately secular but do not question what hardline Islamist groups, particularly the rabid Ansarullah Bangla Team you will perhaps be okay. But the moment you start voicing your opinion and in case they are critical of Islam, your life is in danger."
Also known as Niloy Neel on blogging platforms and Facebook, Niladri Chatterjee was killed with machetes by four unidentified assailants at his Goran residence in Dhaka on August 7.
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A group named Ansar Al Islam, believed to be banned militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team, has claimed responsibility for the murder.
Niloy’s killing occurs two months after Mukto-Mona blogger and writer Ananta Bijoy Das was hacked to death on a street in Sylhet city by masked assailants on May 12.
Another secular activist Oyasiqur Rahman Babu was hacked to death in the capital by three people on March 30.
Read More: Listed activists killed one after another
On February 26, Mukto-Mona blog founder and former Buet teacher Avijit Roy was killed by religious extremists during the Ekushey Book Fair. His wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya sustained injuries during the attack. Both US citizens, the couple had come to Dhaka two weeks back.
Rajshahi University teacher Prof AKM Shafiul Islam was killed on November 15 last year. Daffodil University student and secular activist Ashraful Alam was killed on September 30 last year while war crimes trial campaigner Ahmed Rajeeb Haider on February 15, 2013.
