JFA decries bloggers’ killings in Bangladesh

Guwahati: Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) has expressed serious concern over the killing of third bloggers in Bangladesh this year and urged the Sheikh Hasina led government in Dhaka to probe into the matter authentically to book the culprits under the respective laws. The media reports from southeast Asian nation reveal that the miscreants killed the third Bangladeshi blogger named Ananta Bijoy Das (around 30 years old) in Sylhet this week.

Prior to him, a US based Bengali blogger Avijit Roy (42) and Bangladeshi writer Washiqur Rahman (26) were hacked to death in the national capital. Unconfirmed source claims that all three secular bloggers were assassinated for their online articles advocating reforms in various Islamic laws by the ultraconservative Islamist elements, which are gaining grounds in the Muslim dominated country. Though claimed as a secular democratic country, Bangladesh’s legal system is partially based on Islamic laws.

“The Bangladesh government must take urgent steps to ensure the security of critical bloggers in the country,” said a statement issued by New York based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The CPJ also argued that the Hasina government should show its commitment in curbing this violent trend by immediately finding Das’s killers and bringing them to justice.

The JFA, while urging the Bangladesh authorities to take visible actions against the religious fanatics in the poverty stricken populous country, also extends its moral support to the secular and democratic forces in their relentless fights against the intolerance shown to the free thinkers in the country. Issued by: Rupam Barua, President, JFA and Nava Thakuria, Secretary, JFA

By Our Correspondent