Xulhaz Mannan embodied spirit of Bangladesh, John Kerry says

US Secretary of State John Kerry has condemned the murder of its locally-hired employee Xulhaz Mannan in Dhaka and offered support to the investigation.

He has also said Xulhaz embodied the spirit of Bangladesh.

Xulhaz worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and edited ‘Roopbaan’ magazine that campaigns for the rights of the LGBT.

He was hacked to death along with his theatre activist friend Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy inside his residence at Dhaka’s Kalabagan area on Monday afternoon.

State Department’s spokesperson John Kirby, in the daily press briefing in Washington, said they would not presume the motive behind the murder before the investigation.

But he said he was “a courageous advocate” for LGBT rights which is human rights, and that the murder was an act which was “simply beyond words, unjustifiable, and inexcusable”.

Secretary Kerry in his statement said Xulhaz was “a trusted colleague, a beloved friend, and advocate for human rights and dignity in Bangladesh”.

“In many ways, he embodied the spirit of the people of Bangladesh and the pride with which they guard their traditions of tolerance, peace, and diversity,” he said.

He offered “full support” to the government to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“We remain committed to the principles that were so important to Xulhaz, and we promise to support all those who work on behalf of tolerance and human rights in Bangladesh and around the world”.

Xulhaz was the latest in the list of slain secular bloggers, online activists, publishers, teachers, and dissenters in Bangladesh.

No one claimed responsibility for his murder so far. But in most of the previous cases, the radical Islamic State claimed the responsibility, which the government denied as ‘false’.

However, the government could not identify who were behind those murders, and so far failed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The US earlier offered “humanitarian parole” to those who are in “imminent danger”.

During Monday’s press briefing, Kirby reiterated the position of giving them shelter “as an option under consideration” and said the State Department would like it to be considered on “a case-by-case basis as needed”.

“We certainly would encourage DHS (Department of Homeland Security that deals this) to consider using it as appropriate, but it’s ultimately up to them”.

Replying to a question, the spokesperson said, the US was “mindful” of the recent violence in Bangladesh.

“And again, as I said at the outset, it absolutely stands in stark contrast to the direction that Bangladesh has been moving as a country”.

He said Bangladesh was “justifiably proud of its history as a moderate, tolerant, inclusive society that values the diversity of its people, culture, and religions”.

“And this (Xulhas) attack fundamentally seeks to undermine all that Bangladesh stands for and all that the Bangladeshi people have strive to bring about in recent years”.

“And we pledge our support to Bangladeshi authorities to ensure that the cowards who did this are held accountable,” he said, adding that “we need to let the investigators do their job before we jump to any conclusions one way or the other”.

“Again, I think it’s important for us to just take a step back and realise that there’s a family right now and a lot of friends and loved ones that are grieving,” the spokesperson said.

He said the US embassies always “revising, modifying our security posture as appropriate to keep our people safe”.

“And the last thing we’d want to do is detail what that might be,” he said, when asked about the security of the US embassy diplomats and staff.