[DAWN] IN 2013, 'Islamist' groups in Bangladesh circulated the names of 84 'atheist' bloggers in that country who they wanted to be tried for blasphemy. Niladri Chattopadhyay Niloy, who was brutally killed at his home in Dhaka on Friday, was the fourth blogger on that list to suffer this fate. All four killings have taken place this year and the criminal masterminds remain unidentified. Just a thought, but you might keep an eye on your local Jamaat-e-Islami. They go in for that sort of thing. They like to leave it to their youth league, of course, so check the whereabouts of the nearest Shibir members on the day of the murder.
Unless something drastic is done to check the trend, a large number of people in Bangladesh remain exposed to what has the look of a well-coordinated effort to silence those who have been deemed guilty of crossing the line while expressing their opinion.
"Something drastic," for instance, like brutally murdering four Jamaat members or associates. In fact, I think it was the Hafejat, which is a front organization for the Jamaat, that first demanded the "atheists" be rounded up and killed.
Many at home and away accuse the Bangladesh government of not realising just how serious the situation is. Mr Niloy had complained to the police that he had received threats but media reports say he had got no protection.
Right. The cops, y'see, are there to solve crimes and apprehend the bad guyz, not to prevent crimes from happening. If that was the case, every woman who'd ever been thumped by a vile-tempered and Islamic husband would have a police escort and there aren't enough cops for that, are there?
Apparently his killers didn't have to spend too much time planning their act, either. They approached his house posing as potential tenants, took him to a room, completed the hideous job, and disappeared.
Into thin air, apparently. None of the neighbors heard a ruckus, there wasn't anybody on the street who noticed four blood spattered guys carrying machetes and high-fiving each other. Niloy had a four inch gash in his neck. The human body holds about 5 1/2 quarts of blood, and severing a major artery makes it spurt. Once it's on clothing and shoes it's hard to get out. I've still got blood on my shoes from last November when I mangled my hand with a table saw.
Viewed against the background of the global protest the earlier incidents in which bloggers had been killed had caused, and given the promises made by Dhaka to stand by its avowed secular ideals, this was far too easy an execution of a desire to exterminate the unwanted.
World indignation doesn't hunt down murderers. Cops do. I'll admit that Bangla has a better record in this are than Pakistain does.
There would be some cautious voices counselling restraint on the part of the bloggers but these must be overwhelmed by the ultimate argument: everything that is said can be countered by words wherever necessary. Violence is less equipped to control thoughts and opinion today than it ever was. There are so many convenient tools of expression available in the era of technology. Blog-spots are one option that a growing number employ as a very personal means to inform and comment. They are too numerous and too firmly rooted in modern society. Debate might defeat them. Violence cannot attempt to silence them.