‘Build resistance to stop radicals’

A rally to protest the murder of writer-blogger Avijit Roy has blamed religious zealots for his assassination and called for resistance against them.

The speakers at the rally in Dhaka on Friday claimed the murder of the progressive writer resembled that of the murderous attack on writer Humayun Azad and blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider. 

They also called for organising active resistance to stop Islamic radicals. 
 
Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) President Mujahidul Islam Selim said Avijit was killed a little off from TSC in the same manner as Humayun Azad or Rajib Haider. 

“Anybody can understand from the same nature of the attacks that this was the handiwork of the same militant group.” 

Selim called for retribution and not empty sloganeering. 

Veteran politician Pankaj Bhattacharya said the defeated forces of 1971 have declared war on Bangladesh and want to turn the country into an extremist state.

“This cannot be. We will not let this happen. We will have to stand shoulder to shoulder and resist them.”
  

ছবি: নয়ন কুমার/বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকম

General Secretary of Dhaka University Teachers Association SM Masud Kamal lambasted the police for not being able to prevent the killing so close to the TSC. 

“The police were present when Humayun Azad was killed similarly few years back. How can a person be killed with police present so close to the spot ?”

He called on the police to strengthen security in Dhaka University. 

Unidentified assailants hacked Avijit Roy to death and seriously injured his blogger wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya on Thursday night inside Dhaka University campus.

His father, educationist Ajay Roy, filed a case of murder with Shahbagh police on Friday and said extremists were behind the murder and “Jamaat(-e-Islami) has backed them”.

ছবি: নয়ন কুমার/বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকম

The case did not name anyone and was filed against unidentified assailants.

The police have not yet made any breakthrough over the incident. 

Islamist zealots have been threatening Avijit, a bioengineer and a naturalised US citizen, for his active campaign against Islamist radicals. 

He was a regular

bdnews24.com columnist and the founder of the popular blog, Mukto-mona