Bangladesh government accused of patronising killings of secular bloggers

The Ganajagaran Mancha Spokesperson Imran H Sarker has alleged that the government is busy playing cat and mouse when the bloggers are being killed at a regular interval.

He says there must be government ‘patronage’ behind the spate of killings of the bloggers.

Sarker was speaking at a rally organised at Shahbagh Square on Sunday to mark the second anniversary of the death of prominent blogger and writer Avijit Roy.

Avijit was killed near the TSC of Dhaka University when he came from the US to attend the Ekushey Book Fair. Islamist groups are suspected to have targeted him for his writing on religion.

The police are still hunting for five suspects believed to be involved in the murder.

The speakers at the discussion meeting titled, ‘Freedom of thoughts and social justice: Bangladesh perspective’, alleged that the authorities managed to cracked MP Manjurul Islam Liton’s murder case in less than two months but failed to make a breakthrough in Avijit murder in two years.

“Who is holding you back from solving bloggers’ murder cases? If you can show similar sincerity in investigating bloggers’ murders, you can solve it quickly,” Imran said pointing his finger at the government.

Avijit’s father Prof Ajoy Roy, attending the discussion, stated that he had been assured that the charges would be pressed in court shortly.

“I hope this time they will not go back on their promise. Not only Avijit, but I also want justice for each and every killing,” the former Dhaka University physics teacher said.

He alleged that radical organisation Hifazat-e Islam was out to turn Bangladesh into a state like Pakistan.

The government is also responding to their ‘irrational’ demand and ‘rewriting’ the textbooks, he observed.

“The prime minster once said that I feel like going to Ganajagaran Mancha. But, now under whose influence is she pursuing a policy that panders to Hifazat,” the professor asked.

The Ganajagaran movement started in 2013 demanding death penalties for all the war criminals. After a few weeks, Hifazat-e Islam and some like-minded groups dubbed Ganajagaran activists ‘atheists’ and demanded their trials.

Imran Sarker said “top officials of law-enforcing agencies had said the same person is behind the killing of bloggers Rajib Haider and Avijit. The Rajib murder suspect is given bail and allowed to flee the country. Was he given bail because of Avijit killing?” he questioned.

“There were hundreds of policemen deployed for the security in Ekushet Book Fair. How could someone kill someone and manage to flee the scene without being caught?” Imran asked.

“Does it indicate a kind of negligence or patronage by the authorities in such killings?” he continued.

The Mancha activists took out a procession after the meeting and went to the spot of Avijit murder near the TSC to pay tribute to the slain writer.