Blogger Avijit’s father says people must unite to fight fundamentalists

Slain blogger Avijit Roy's father Dr Ajay Roy has urged the people to unite in an attempt to prevent fundamentalists from killing people.

He was speaking on Saturday in front of the National Museum in Shahbagh at a gathering that was celebrating the third anniversary of the Ganajagaran Mancha, a movement demanding capital punishment for war criminals.

During last year’s book fair, his son Avijit was hacked to death close to the Teacher-Student Centre of Dhaka University. A decade ago, writer Humayun Azad had been attacked in the same area.

Besides these two attacks, militants have been involved in other killings of authors and publishers, claim police reports. Even now, teachers and other intellectuals are under threat by militants.

Professor Ajay Roy said, "Armed fundamentalists are behind communalism in Bangladesh. We urge the people to unite in preventing them.

"The people must unite to eradicate the fundamentalists. There is no alternative. Only that way can the young people return from darkness into light."