Four stalls at the Ekushey Book Fair have observed a symbolic strike, as a protest to the killing of writer Avijit Roy.
Four publications - Jagriti, Srabon, Porua, Nandonik - were kept shuttered for 10 minutes, from 4:05pm to 4:15pm, on Friday. And the publishers stood together in front of the stalls in protest of the brutal killing of Avijit Roy and the same attack that also critically injured his wife.
They demanded the government take proper steps into the attack to find the criminals and bring them to book.
The publishers also vowed they would not bow down to the threats of fundamentalists in publishing books, and would uphold the freedom of expression.
Robin Ahsan, publisher of Srabon, said: "We call on the government to immediately arrest the attackers, and call upon all publishers to stand together for the sake of freedom of expression."
Avijit, 45, was hacked to death and his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonna, 35, was seriously injured in an attack by unidentified assailants near the TSC roundabout on Thursday night.
Only hours after the death of the author and blogger, the responsibility of the crime was claimed by a Twitter account reportedly belonging to “Ansar Bangla 7” – a group believed to be an Islamist outfit.
Family sources said Avijit – a naturalised US citizen who lived in the American state of Georgia – came to Bangladesh with his wife on February 15 after two new books he authored were published at the Ekushey Book Fair.
