Avijit epitomises spirit of humanity

Avijit Roy is an icon who transgressed religious and racial differences to epitomise the spirit of humanity.

An advocate of modern sciences, the writer-blogger created the online platform Mukto-mona which championed free-thinking.

Even after death, the writer-blogger stamps his love for science leaving behind his body for medical research.

The US-based Bangladeshi expatriate was an engineer for a software company. Alongside his job, he also wrote in newspapers and blogs.

One of his books was published in this year’s Ekushey Book Fair. Avijit had returned to Bangladesh on Feb 16 to attend the fair and to visit his family, including his ailing mother, after two years.

A strong voice against communalism, Avijit had been speaking out against religious fanaticism and superstitions using scientific facts. He had been threatened several times for writing against communalism and religious radicalism.

Avijit and his wife, fellow blogger Rafida Ahmed Bonya, were brutally attacked on the footpath adjacent to the Suhrawardy Udyan on the other side of Milan Chattor on Thursday. He died at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital while his seriously injured wife is undergoing treatment at the Square Hospital.

Thursday’s attack bore a striking similarity to the one on legendary writer Humayun Azad in February 2004. Azad was also returning home from the Ekushey Book Fair, when he was hacked with machetes by radical militants.

Islamist group 'Ansar Bangla 7' in a series of tweets from its Twitter handle has described the murder of Avijit Roy as an achievement. One such tweet described the murder as a punishment for Avijit's "crime against Islam".

The first tweet appeared around midnight on Thursday, after the attack. Messages included "Allahu Akbar... A great success today here in Bangladesh.”

After finishing his school, Avijit, son of Ajay Roy, a former physics professor of Dhaka University, got admitted to Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 1990.

He started working for Otobi after attaining degree in mechanical engineering.

He went to Singapore after getting a scholarship for a doctorate degree and then took up a research scope at a university in the US.

Avijit and Bonya’s only daughter Trisha has recently got admission into a university in the US. 

People from all walks of life flocked in front of Raju Sculpture in Dhaka University to protest against the gruesome killing.

The body of the deceased writer-blogger will be kept in front of Aparajeyo Bangla in Dhaka University on Sunday for paying last respects.

His body will be donated to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital by his family as per his wish.