Dhaka (AsiaNews) - Five men yesterday broke into the home of blogger Niloy Chakrabarti and brutally murdered him for his activities against religious fanaticism in Bangladesh.
The writer, 40, was hacked to death with an ax before the eyes of his mother and sister in broad daylight, around 13:45 (local time). The attackers - probably Muslims - entered the building after Friday prayers, in two groups, posing as tenants of the premises.
Niloy, an atheist but from a Hindu minority family, lived with his loved ones in the city of Khilgaon (district of Dhaka). Imran H Sarker, spokesman for Ganajagaran Mancha [secular and anti-fundamentalist movement ed] wrote on Facebook that Nuloy "wrote in favor of the rights of women, indigenous and other minorities. He was critical of religious fundamentalism that causes bomb attacks in mosques and the killing of thousands of civilians. He was one of the many voices for social justice, secularism, human rights and justice for Avijt Roy ".
Niloy Chakrabarti is the fourth blogger to be killed since the beginning of the year. Last February Avijt Roy was murdered near the University of Dhaka. In late March, in the capital, Muslim fundamentalists killed with machete Oyasiqur Rahman. Two months later it was the turn of Ananta Bijoy Das,, killed in Sylhet. All three activists were part of Ganajagaran Mancha.
Last May, the terrorist group "Al Kaida Ansarullah Bangla Team 13" claimed responsibility for the killings of "blasphemous" bloggers and delivered to a list of targets threatening letters in which they promise "the right death" to those who criticize Islam .
For some time Muslim extremists have been targeting free thinkers and democracy activists, justifying their murder because they are "atheists". In 2013, the first blogger to be killed for his ideas "contrary to Islam" was Ahmed Rajib Haider.