Avijit Roy Explained

Avijit Roy
Native Name:অভিজিৎ রায়
Native Name Lang:bn
Birth Date:12 September 1972
Birth Place:Bangladesh
Death Place:Dhaka, Bangladesh
Death Cause:Murder by Islamic terrorists
Occupation:Engineer, blogger, writer
Known For:Blogging in Bangladesh
Nationality:American, Bangladeshi
Education:BS in mechanical engineering; MS and PhD in biomedical engineering
Alma Mater:BUET (BS)
National University of Singapore (MS, PhD)
Years Active:2001-2015[1]
Notable Works:New Atheism, science, anarchism and religion, homosexuality[2]
Spouse:Rafida Ahmed Bonya
Children:Trisha Ahmed
Parents:Ajoy Roy (father)
Shefali Roy (mother)[3]

Avijit Roy (Bengali: অভিজিৎ রায়; 12 September 1972 – 26 February 2015)[4] was a Bangladeshi-American engineer, online activist, writer, and blogger known for creating and administrating the Mukto-Mona, an Internet blogging community for Bangladeshi freethinkers, rationalists, skeptics, atheists, and humanists. Roy was an advocate of free expression in Bangladesh and coordinated international protests against government censorship and imprisonment of atheist bloggers. He was killed by machete-wielding assailants in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 26 February 2015; the Islamic militant organization Ansarullah Bangla Team claimed responsibility for the attack.[5] [6]

Early life and education

Avijit Roy was the son of Ajoy Roy, a professor of physics at the University of Dhaka, who received the Ekushey Padak award.[7] Avijit earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from BUET,[8] [9] [10] and a master's and doctoral degree in biomedical engineering from the National University of Singapore.[11]

Career

In 2006, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and worked as a software engineer.[4] [12]

Mukto-Mona

Roy was the founder[13] of the Bangladeshi Mukto-Mona website, which was nominated for The Bobs (Best of Blogs) Award in the Best of Online Activism category.[14] [15] It was originally a Yahoo! group in May 2001, but became a website in 2002.[16]

Roy described his writing as "taboo" in Bangladesh.[17] He had received death threats from fundamentalist bloggers for his articles and books.[18] [19] Rokomari.com, a Bangladeshi e-commerce site, stopped selling Roy's books after its owner received death threats from Islamists.[20] [21]

Protests and advocacy

A Bangladeshi group, Blogger and Online Activist Network (BOAN), initiated the 2013 Shahbag protests that sought capital punishment for the Islamist leader and war criminal Abdul Quader Molla, as well as the removal of Jamaat-e-Islami from politics.[22] [23] Islamist groups responded by organizing protests calling for the execution of "atheist bloggers" accused of insulting Islam and the introduction of a blasphemy law.[24] [25] Many atheist bloggers who supported the Shahbag protests were attacked, and Ahmed Rajib Haider was killed by Islamist groups on 15 February 2013.[26] A month before the protest, blogger Asif Mohiuddin was attacked outside his house by four youths influenced by Anwar Al-Awlaki,[27] and Sunnyur Rahman, known as Nastik Nobi ("Atheist Prophet"), was stabbed on 7 March 2013.[28]

Asif Mohiuddin, a winner of the BOBs award for online activism, was on an Islamist hit list that also included the murdered sociology professor Shafiul Islam.[29] His blog was shut down by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, and he was jailed for posting "offensive comments about Islam and Mohammed".[30] [31] The secular government arrested several other bloggers, and blocked about a dozen websites and blogs and gave police protection to some bloggers.[32]

International organizations, including the Human Rights Watch,[33] Amnesty International,[34] Reporters Without Borders[35] and the Committee to Protect Journalists[36] condemned the imprisonment of bloggers and the climate of fear for journalists.

Roy wrote that he was disgusted that the Bangladeshi media portrayed young bloggers as "crooks in the public eye"[13] and wrote to Western media outlets, the Center for Inquiry,[13] and the International Humanist and Ethical Union[37] for support. Roy went on to coordinate international protests in Dhaka, New York City, Washington, D.C., London, Ottawa, and other cities in support of the jailed bloggers.[38] [39] He was joined by writers, activists, and prominent secularists and intellectuals around the world including Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasrin, Hemant Mehta, Maryam Namazie, PZ Myers, Anu Muhammad, Ajoy Roy, Qayyum Chowdhury, Ramendu Majumdar and Muhammad Zafar Iqbal in publicly expressing their solidarity with the arrested bloggers.

Murder

In 2015, Roy went to Dhaka with his wife Bonya Ahmed during the Ekushey Book Fair.[40] On the evening of 26 February, he and Bonya were returning home from the fair by bicycle rickshaw. At around 8:30 pm, they were attacked near the Teacher-Student Centre intersection of Dhaka University by unidentified assailants. According to witnesses, two assailants stopped and dragged them from the rickshaw to the pavement before striking them with machetes. Roy was struck and stabbed with sharp weapons in the head. His wife was slashed on her shoulders, and the fingers of her left hand were severed.[7] Both of them were rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where Roy was pronounced dead around 10:30 pm. Ahmed survived. In an interview with BBC's Newshour, she said that police stood nearby when they were attacked but did not act.[41]

In a Twitter post on the day after his death, an Islamist group called Ansar Bangla-7 claimed responsibility for the killing. Ansar Bangla-7 is said to be the same organization as the Ansarullah Bangla Team.[42] A case of murder was filed by Roy's father without naming any suspects at Shahbagh on 27 February 2015.[43] Police sources stated that they were investigating a local Islamist group that praised the killing.[44]

Avijit's body was placed at Aparajeyo Bangla in front of the Faculty of Arts building at Dhaka University on 1 March 2015, where people from all walks of life, including his friends, relatives, well-wishers, teachers, and students, gathered with flowers to pay their respect to the writer.[45] As per Roy's wish, his body was handed over to Dhaka Medical College for medical research.[46]

On 6 March 2015, a four-member team from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), along with members of the detective branch of Bangladesh Police, inspected the spot where Roy was killed. The FBI members collected evidence from the site and took the footage to help investigate.[47] [48]

On 3 May 2015, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) claimed responsibility for Roy's murder and the deaths of other "blasphemers" in Bangladesh in a report published by the SITE Intelligence Group.[49]

Arrests

On 2 March 2015, the Rapid Action Battalion arrested Farabi Shafiur Rahman, a radical Islamist. Farabi was believed to have shared Roy's personal information, including location, with the assailants.[50] Rahman had threatened Roy several times through blogs and social media sites including Facebook, and said that Roy would be killed upon his arrival in Dhaka.[51] [52]

Bangladesh's government decided to seek help from the FBI to investigate Roy's murder. The decision was taken following an offer by the United States.[53]

On 18 August 2015, three members of the Ansarullah Bangla Team, including a British citizen named Touhidur Rahman, who police described as "the main planner of the attacks on Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das", were arrested in connection with the two murders.[54]

In February 2021, five leaders and members of the banned militant outfit Ansar al-Islam were sentenced to death and another to life in prison for Roy's murder.[55]

Reactions

After Roy's death, several students, teachers, bloggers, and around the country gathered at Dhaka University, demanding quick arrest of the killers.[56] [57] Mukto-Mona wrote in Bengali "We are grieving but we shall overcome".[44]

Secretary-General of the United Nations spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric condemned the killing and said, "On the attack of the blogger, we spoke to our human rights colleagues who condemned the attack and expressed the hope that the perpetrators will be quickly brought to justice through the due process of law."[58]

The head of Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific stated, "We are shocked by this act of barbarity" and added, "It is unacceptable for [police] to spend so much time searching news outlets, arresting journalists, censoring news and investigating bloggers when the many attacks on bloggers are still unpunished."[59]

The CEO of Index on Censorship, Jodie Ginsberg, said: "Our sympathies are with the family of Avijit Roy. Roy was targeted simply for expressing his beliefs, and we are appalled by his death and condemn all such killings."[60]

The Asia Program Coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists stated, "This attack is emblematic of the culture of impunity that pervades Bangladesh, where the lack of accountability in previous attacks on the press continues to spurn a deadly cycle of violence."[61] [62]

Humanist groups expressed horror at Roy's death. The Center for Inquiry's chief UN representative stated, "Avijit was brilliant, yes, and a devoted advocate of free expression and secularism, but also just a very good person."[63] Andrew Copson of the British Humanist Association, which awarded Roy and other bloggers the Free Expression Award in 2014,[64] said, "With Avijit's death, Bangladesh has lost not just a son, but a forceful proponent of human rights and equality for all its people."[65]

The British High Commissioner Robert Gibson expressed his concern in a tweet saying, "Shocked by the savage murder of Avijit Roy as I am by all the violence that has taken place in Bangladesh in recent months".[66]

In December 2021, the United States Department of State announced a $5m bounty for information leading to the perpetrators of the terrorist attack on Roy and Ahmed.[67]

Legacy

In 2018, the Freedom From Religion Foundation introduced the annual Avijit Roy Courage Award, which is given to "individuals working toward the spread of rational and logical discourse, and recognize creative and heroic individuals who have persisted, despite hurdles, in their work to promote science, logic, and humane ideas".[68]

Works

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Father of slain blogger Avijit Roy appears in court to give testimony. bdnews24.com. 28 October 2019. 26 January 2020.
  2. News: Obituary: US-Bangladesh writer Avijit Roy. BBC News. 27 February 2015. 26 January 2020.
  3. News: bn:শেষ শ্রদ্ধার পর অভিজিতের মরদেহ বাসায় . http://www.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/article/464926/শেষ-শ্রদ্ধার-পর-অভিজিতের-মরদেহ-বাসায় . bn . . 15 May 2021 . 2 February 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170202114812/http://www.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/article/464926/%E0%A6%B6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B7-%E0%A6%B6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A7%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%85%E0%A6%AD%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B9-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC . dead .
  4. News: Obituary: US-Bangladesh writer Avijit Roy . BBC News . 27 February 2015.
  5. News: Ansar Bangla-7 claims Avijit killing responsibility . Prothom Alo . Transcom Group . 27 February 2015 . 16 May 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150227140249/http://en.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/news/59777/Ansar-Bangla-7-claims-Avijit-killing . 27 February 2015 . dead .
  6. News: Assailants hack to death writer Avijit Roy, wife injured . bdnews24.com . Dhaka . 26 February 2015 . 26 February 2015.
  7. News: Blogger Avijit hacked to death on DU campus. The New Age. Dhaka . 26 February 2015 . 26 February 2015.
  8. News: Avijit epitomises spirit of humanity . . 28 February 2015 . 28 February 2015.
  9. News: Bangladeshis protest after atheist writer Avijit Roy hacked to death. The Guardian. 27 February 2015 . 28 February 2015.
  10. News: Engineers vehicles of civilization, militancy its enemy: Inu . . 1 March 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150302093425/http://www.bssnews.net/newsDetails.php?cat=0&id=474271&date=2015-02-27 . 2 March 2015 . dead.
  11. News: Khan . Mozammel H. . A Shocking Crime . The Daily Star . Op-Ed . 28 February 2015 . 28 February 2015.
  12. Rishi Iyengar . Bangladesh Authorities Arrest Suspect in American Blogger's Murder . . 3 March 2015.
  13. Web site: No Flag Large Enough to Cover the Shame . Avijit Roy . 1 May 2013 . Center for Inquiry.
  14. Web site: Mukto-Mona moderators . Mukto-Mona . https://web.archive.org/web/20121202084039/http://www.mukto-mona.com/Moderators/moderators.html . 2 December 2012.
  15. News: Islam-kritischer Blogger ermordet . . 27 February 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150227185939/http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/bangladesch-blogger-101.html . 27 February 2015 .
  16. Web site: Avijit Roy and His Legacy . Jahed Ahmed . Center for Inquiry . 12 March 2015 . 18 August 2015.
  17. Web site: Avijit Roy Dead: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know . . 26 February 2015 . 27 February 2015 . 12 January 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200112161246/https://heavy.com/news/2015/02/avijit-roy-dead-killed-murder-stabbed-islamic-critic-funeral-tribute-rip-wife-rafida-bonna/ . dead .
  18. Web site: Islamic death threats over books by Avijit Roy . . 20 March 2014 . 27 February 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150301152211/http://freethinker.co.uk/2014/03/20/islamic-death-threats-force-online-bangladeshi-book-store-to-stop-sales-of-books-by-avijit-roy/ . 1 March 2015 . dead .
  19. News: RAB arrests Farabi over Avijit murder . bdnews24.com . 2 February 2015 . 31 May 2015.
  20. News: Bangladesh online bookstore drops author after death threats . . 18 March 2014 . 18 August 2015.
  21. Web site: Radical threaten Bangladeshi American Writer Avijit Roy . 6 April 2014 . Policy Research Group Strategic Insight . https://web.archive.org/web/20150221050952/http://policyresearchgroup.com/bangladesh-nepal/radical_lslamists_threaten_bangladeshi_american_writer_avijit_ro.html . 21 February 2015 . 6 March 2016 . dead.
  22. News: Bangladesh's rising voices . . 19 February 2013 . 12 June 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130223022108/http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201302190008-0022555 . 23 February 2013 . dead.
  23. News: 4 years since the Shahbagh movement . . 5 February 2017.
  24. News: Hardline Muslims rally in Bangladesh amid shutdown . . Associated Press . 6 April 2013.
  25. News: Farid Ahmed . 8 April 2013 . Bangladesh Islamists rally for blasphemy law . CNN.
  26. News: Activist, blogger and DW Bobs nominee Avijit Roy killed in Dhaka . Deutsche Welle . 26 February 2015.
  27. News: 4 held over attempt to kill blogger . . 2 April 2013 . 27 February 2015.
  28. News: Blogger Saniur files case . bdnews24.com . 7 March 2013 . 18 June 2013.
  29. Web site: Bloggers on hit-list posted by supposed Islamist group in Bangladesh . 19 November 2014 . . 27 February 2015 . 18 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160318224957/https://en.rsf.org/bangladesh-bloggers-on-hit-list-posted-by-19-11-2014,47250.html . dead .
  30. News: Bangladesh gags award-winning blogger . Deutsche Welle . 25 May 2013.
  31. Web site: Blogger granted bail on health grounds . 7 August 2013 . Reporters Without Borders . 27 February 2015 . 21 March 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150321132206/http://en.rsf.org/bangladesh-unjustifiable-decision-to-send-30-07-2013,44992.html . dead .
  32. News: American atheist blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh . The Guardian . . 27 February 2015.
  33. Web site: Bangladesh: Crackdown on Bloggers, Editors Escalates . 15 April 2013 . . 'the government is abandoning any severe claim that it is committed to free speech, said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch..
  34. Web site: Bangladesh: Further information: Detained editor alleges torture . 17 April 2013 . . Blogger Asif Mohiudeen, arrested on 3 April for allegedly posting blasphemous comments online, remains in detention and at risk of torture.
  35. Web site: Call for detained blogger's immediate release . 11 April 2013 . Reporters Without Borders . Reporters Without Borders condemns the baseless judicial proceedings brought against the detained blogger Asif Mohiuddin, who could be tried and convicted on a charge of blasphemy and 'hurting religious sentiments' at his next hearing . 27 February 2015 . 4 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304064659/http://en.rsf.org/bangladesh-call-for-detained-blogger-s-11-04-2013,44367.html . dead .
  36. Web site: Attacks on the Press – Bangladesh . February 2014 . Committee to Protect Journalists.
  37. Web site: Humanists appalled at the murder of secular activist and writer Avijit Roy . 26 February 2015 . International Humanist and Ethical Union.
  38. News: Atheists Rally Around Jailed Bangladeshi Bloggers . HuffPost. . 25 April 2013 . 6 June 2013.
  39. Web site: The Struggle of Bangladeshi Bloggers . Avijit Roy . 8 May 2013 . . 6 June 2013.
  40. News: Writer Avijit Roy hacked dead, wife hurt near TSC . 26 February 2015 . The Daily Star . Dhaka . 26 February 2015.
  41. News: Bangladesh Police Stood Close By, Didn't Act: Slain Blogger Avijit Roy's Wife . HuffPost. . 11 March 2015 . 14 March 2015.
  42. News: Al-Qaeda branch claims responsibility for murder of writer-blogger Avijit Roy: Rab, police doubt reported claim . The Daily Star . 4 May 2015 . 5 May 2015.
  43. News: Ray Sanchez . 27 February 2015 . Prominent Bangladeshi-American blogger Avijit Roy killed . . 28 February 2015.
  44. News: US-Bangladesh blogger Avijit Roy hacked to death . BBC News . 27 February 2015 . 28 February 2015.
  45. News: Hacked American blogger Avijit Roy laid to rest in Bangladesh . . 1 March 2015 . 1 March 2015.
  46. News: Monideepa Banerjie . Dhaka Pays Last Respects to Murdered Bangladeshi-American Blogger Avijit Roy . . 1 March 2015 . 18 August 2015.
  47. News: FBI team visits Avijit murder scene at DU . The Daily Star . 6 March 2015 . 7 March 2015.
  48. News: FBI team collects evidence of Avijit murder . Dhaka Tribune . 7 March 2015.
  49. News: Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent 'claims' murder of US citizen in Bangladesh . . Reuters . 18 August 2015.
  50. News: Atheist blogger Avijit Roy 'was not just a person ... he was a movement' . The Guardian. 7 March 2015.
  51. News: Bangladesh Avijit Roy murder: Suspect arrested . BBC News . 2 March 2015 . 2 March 2015.
  52. News: Bangladesh authorities arrest man over atheist blogger's murder . The Guardian . 2 March 2015 . 2 March 2015.
  53. News: 3 March 2015. 2 March 2015. FBI to help probe murder of US blogger Avijit Roy in Bangladesh. The Times of India.
  54. News: Bangladesh arrests British citizen, said to be 'main planner' of murders of two bloggers . . Agence France-Presse . 18 August 2015.
  55. News: Avijit Roy Murder: 5 Ansar al-Islam men to walk the gallows, 1 sentenced to life . 16 February 2021 . Dhaka Tribune . 16 February 2021.
  56. News: Julfikar Ali Manik . Nida Najar . 28 February 2015. Avijit Roy, Bangladeshi-American Writer, Is Killed by Machete-Wielding Assailants. . 18 August 2015.
  57. News: Immediate arrest of Avijit killers demanded . Dhaka Tribune . 27 February 2015 . 18 August 2015.
  58. News: UN condemns Avijit killing . bdnews24.com . 28 February 2015.
  59. Web site: Call for effective protection after another blogger hacked to death . 27 February 2015 . Reporters Without Borders.
  60. Web site: Index on Censorship condemns brutal murder of blogger Avijit Roy . Index on Censorship . 27 February 2015.
  61. Web site: Blogger hacked to death, another seriously injured in Bangladesh . 27 February 2015 . Committee to Protect Journalists.
  62. News: American blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh . 27 February 2015 . Al Jazeera.
  63. Web site: Statement on the Murder of Dr. Avijit Roy, Bangladeshi Ally and Friend . 26 February 2015 . Center for Inquiry.
  64. Web site: Bangladeshi bloggers Asif Mohiuddin and the late Ahmed Rajib win Free Expression Award at World Humanist Congress . 9 August 2014. . 2 April 2015.
  65. Web site: Humanist blogger Avijit Roy hacked to death by Islamic fundamentalists in Dhaka . 27 February 2015 . British Humanist Association . 2 April 2015.
  66. News: British high commissioner shocked by Avijit murder . bdnews24.com . 27 February 2015.
  67. Web site: Rewards for Justice – Reward Offer for Information on the Murder of Avijit Roy and Attack on Rafida Bonya Ahmed . 2022-02-28 . United States Department of State . en.
  68. Web site: Avijit Roy Courage Award - Freedom From Religion Foundation . 2022-02-28 . ffrf.org . en-gb.
  69. News: Lizzie Dearden . 27 February 2015 . American-Bangladeshi atheist blogger Avijit Roy hacked to death by suspected Islamist extremists . The Independent.

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