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Bangladesh blogger killed by machete gang had asked for police protection

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A secular blogger in Bangladesh who was murdered at his home on Friday had told police of threats against him and requested safety weeks before he died.

Niloy Chakrabarti, who used the pen name Niloy Neel, hacked to lose his life with machetes after a gang broke into his condo in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. He’s the fourth blogger to have been killed in Bangladesh seeing that February.

In an interview with the Mother or father in May, Chakrabarti said he became scared that he might be killed and that he had attempted to file reviews with local police and endured harassment. He claimed his proceedings had not been taken seriously.

Imran H Sarker, head of the Bangladesh Blogger and Activist Community, said Chakrabarti was an “indexed target”. “They entered his room on the 5th floor and shoved his pal aside and then hacked him to loss of life,” Sarker advised Agence France-Presse.

620Avijit Roy, the blogger who would not backtrack in the face of threats
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The hacking to demise in February of Bangladeshi-born US citizen Avijit Roy, a technology author and blog website moderator, precipitated outrage around the arena.

His demise became accompanied with the aid of that of 27-yr-antique Washiqur Rahman, killed in Dhaka in March, and Ananta Bijoy Das, murdered with the assistance of a collection wielding machetes on 13 May additionally as he headed to paintings in Sylhet, northern Bangladesh.

More than one hundred fifty writers, which includes Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Yann Martel, and Colm Tóibín, signed a letter condemning the series of fatal assaults and calling at the a’s government “to ensure that the tragic activities … are not repeated”.

All the victims were energetic on social media, criticizing the extremist Muslim ideologies that have gained strength in Bangladesh in recent years or arguing in favor of progressive causes. On his Facebook account, Chakrabarti frequently wrote in favor of girls’ rights.

Bangladesh is an officially secular country, but more than ninety of its one hundred sixty million human beings are Muslim.

Police showed Chakrabarti was murdered using a collection of 1/2 a dozen people in the capital’s Goran neighborhood, although they’d no info on the reason for the killing.

“Six folks knocked on his door, saying they wanted to rent a flat. Two of them then took him to a room and slaughtered him there,” Muntashirul Islam, a deputy police commissioner, stated.

Police did not touch upon fees that they had failed to act on Chakrabarti’s requests for safety.

Bangladeshi blogger named on hitlist warned: ‘You will be subsequent.’Examine a more group that has been related to al-Qaida claimed obligation for the killing in an email on Friday evening.

The email was sent during the call with Ansar ul Islam. This touch-recognized company has claimed responsibility for preceding murders of bloggers and describes itself as the Bangladesh branch of al-Qaida within the Indian Subcontinent (Aqis).

Ayman al-Zawahiri, the chief of al-Qaida, announced the introduction of an affiliate in South Asia last autumn.

Al-Qaida has misplaced ground to the more recent Islamic Kingdom in recent months and has expanded its operations in different areas to keep its profile. Zawahiri has noted Bangladesh repeatedly in current communications.

The Dhaka Tribune, a nearby newspaper, suggested The email as announcing: “We, al-Qaida inside the Indian Subcontinent, claim obligation for this operation as vengeance for the honor of the messenger of Allah. We claim to struggle in opposition to the enemies of Allah and His Messenger. Enemies of Allah and His Messenger … we’re coming [for] you … If your ‘Freedom of Speech’ continues no limits, then widen your chests for ‘Freedom of our Machetes’.”

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Aqis additionally claimed obligation for Roy’s killing on 26 February, in which his wife changed into badly injured. An Islamist has been arrested over his homicide. Two students at nonsecular schools have been arrested over the killing of Washiqur Rahman.

The Government in the politically unstable South Asian Country was again criticized for no longer acting to shield unfastened speech. However, the Ansarullah Bangla Crew (ABT), a hardline Islamist group, became banned following Das’s murder.

Police agree that the ABT may be behind the three attacks. Individuals of the institution have already been charged with the 2013 murder of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider.

One hardline organization, Hefazat-e-Islam, has publicly sought the execution of atheists who organized mass protests in opposition to the upward thrust of political Islam.

Hefazat, led by Islamic seminary teachers, additionally staged a large counter-protest in opposition to the bloggers in May 2013 that unleashed violence and left nearly 50 humans lifeless.

Lively bloggers in Bangladesh instructed the Father or Mother earlier this 12 months they acquired loss of life threats so regularly they couldn’t remember. They also chance jail phrases of up to 14 years for publishing material that the Government deems false or defamatory.

In 2013, atheist blogger Asif Mohiuddin was stabbed in the street by way of religious extremists. A month later, he was arrested and held in jail for making derogatory remarks about religion, and his weblog was banned.

Carol P. Middleton
Student. Alcohol ninja. Entrepreneur. Professional travel enthusiast. Zombie fan. Practiced in the art of donating rocking horses for the underprivileged. Crossed the country researching hula hoops in Deltona, FL. Won several awards for supervising the production of etch-a-sketches in Nigeria. Uniquely-equipped for investing in bathtub gin in the financial sector. Spent a year building g.i. joes worldwide. Earned praise for deploying childrens books in Africa.