₦airaland Forum

guardian: Bangladesh blogger becomes second to be murdered in a month

Washiqur Rahman’s murder is latest attack on progressive activists following similar killing of American atheist blogger in February

A blogger known for his atheist views has been stabbed to death in Bangladesh, in the latest of a series of attacks on independent writers in the developing south Asian nation.

Washiqur Rahman, 27, died of serious injuries inflicted in the assault on Monday morning in Dhaka, the capital.

Police have arrested two men for the murder, which comes just weeks after an American atheist blogger was killed in Dhaka, in a crime that triggered international outrage.


Local police chief Wahidul Islam told Agence France-Presse the victim had been “brutally hacked to death this morning with big knives just 500 yards [460 metres] from his home at Dhaka’s Begunbari area”.

Islam said the two detained men were arrested immediately after the attack as they tried to flee the scene.

The suspects have so far been identified only as Zikrullah, said to be a student at a religious school near the city of Chittagong, and Ariful Islam, who police say was studying at the Darul Ulum religious school in Dhaka. Police are hunting a third man.

“Those who killed him differed on his ideologies about religion. He was not an atheist. He was a believer. But the way he followed religion was different from the way radical groups insist,” Biplob Kumar Sarkar, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan police, told the Guardian.

However, Tamanna Setu, a friend of Rahman said: “He used to write a satirical column on facebook about against believers. He was an atheist. His killing has to be connected to his writing,”

One social media activist said that he used to write “against religious fundamentalism”.

“It appeared Rahman used to write using a pen name, Kutshit Hasher Chhana [Ugly Duckling],” Imran Sarker, head of the Blogger and Online Activists Network in Bangladesh, said. “He was a progressive free thinker and was against religious fundamentalism.”

Ibrahim Khalil, a fellow blogger who knew Rahman through events they organised, said Rahman was a “progressive” who wrote against religious extremism and repression of ethnic minorities.

“I can say he was a very humble man,” Khalil said.

The Dhaka Tribune reported that the dead man was a member of eight Facebook group pages including Atheist Bangladesh.

Rahman, who worked at a travel agency as an IT manager, is the third such blogger to have been murdered in the Muslim-majority country in the past two years.

Atheist blogger Avijit Roy 'was not just a person … he was a movement'

Police have also arrested a suspect over the killing in February of American atheist writer and blogger Avijit Roy.

Roy, an engineer of Bangladeshi origin, was killed by machete-wielding assailants near Dhaka University as he and his wife were returning from a book fair last month. His wife, Rafida Bonya Ahmed, suffered head injuries and lost a finger. She later returned to the US for treatment.

“While Avijit and I were being ruthlessly attacked, the local police stood close by and did not act,” Rafida told Reuters.

Roy’s death sparked uproar at home and abroad, with hundreds of secular activists protesting for days to demand justice. They also criticised the country’s government for not doing enough to protect secularist writers.

An adviser to Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister, appeared in comments earlier this month to pass the blame for the murder of Roy on to the police.

“Identify the black sheep among the force and bring them under law and justice to uphold your image,” HT Imam told senior officers.

A suspect in the killing, named as Farabi Shafiur Rahman, had previously threatened Roy several times, including on Facebook, where he said Roy would be killed upon his arrival in Dhaka. Rahman was arrested in 2013 for making threats to a cleric for administering Islamic funeral rites to another atheist blogger, Ahmed Rajib Haider, who was murdered.

Media group Reporters Without Borders rated Bangladesh 146th among 180 countries in a ranking of press freedom last year.

In 2004, assailants attacked Bangladeshi writer Humayun Azad, also with machetes. Azad survived the attack, but died in mysterious circumstances later that year in Germany, where he had gone on an academic visit.

Political violence in recent months has claimed the lives of more than 100 people and left hundreds more injured. Clashes have pitted activists from the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP), which boycotted general elections a year ago, and other parties against security forces. The latest protests have been called by Khaleda Zia, leader of the BNP, who wants Hasina to resign and call fresh polls. Hasina has said her government would remain in office until her term ends in 2019. Allies of the BNP include Islamist parties.

The country of more than 160 million people has struggled to resolve profound disagreements over the role of religion in politics and society in recent years

Joyful77:
Bigots have started again!

When Eric Rudolph carried out several bombings and killed people in America for leading anti Christian lives like aborting and subscribing to homosexuality; nobody blamed it on Christianity!!

The German pilot, Andrea Lubitz recently wasted 150 lives by crashing his flight on purpose in the French Alps. They said it was due to psychological problems! Nonsense!! I'm sure the world media would be upside down by now if he had been a Muslim!!

Now that Muslims are involved, hypocrites will blame it on Islam

usermane:
You shouldn't discount the possibility that some of these bloggers or writers are not atheists but Muslims battling extremism and fanaticm. As a Muslim committed to combating Islamist or extreme ideas within the Muslim world, i have had fanatic Muslims accuse me of disbelief or apostasy just to discredit or write me off. This is a typical response of fanatic Muslims to critique and debunk of their ideology. This accusation is more of a defamation to push other Muslims to excommunicate you or even assassinate you. Even here on NL, i 've had this experience, but thank God i live in a country that protect my right to expression.

wiegraf:
[s] What are you smoking?

Which crowd do you think you're addressing here? Do not take us for eediots abeg...

Have you read the Koran?

Do you want me to quote the myriad instances it asks for 'justice' to be meted out to kafirs and such? Or do you deny this?? Your own Imam masters do not deny this, so please do not waste our time with such nonsense. (BTW, if I did, this thread would become faaaaaaar too long. And that's without diving into the hadiths....) [/s]



And no one says xtianity is exactly innocent as well.

[s] However, in today's world, compared to you guys they look like Gandhi on steroids. Or weed, more likely [/s]

Wiegraf, Face your own wahala.

[s] Speaking of hypocrisy, you have the gall to call people 'bigots' whilst you defend this nonsense.....'Bigotry' was one of the many less than noble terms coined to describe islam......look it up... [/s]

usermane:
You shouldn't discount the possibility that some of these bloggers or writers are not atheists but Muslims battling extremism and fanaticm. As a Muslim committed to combating Islamist or extreme ideas within the Muslim world, i have had fanatic Muslims accuse me of disbelief or apostasy just to discredit or write me off. This is a typical response of fanatic Muslims to critique and debunk of their ideology. This accusation is more of a defamation to push other Muslims to excommunicate you or even assassinate you. Even here on NL, i 've had this experience, but thank God i live in a country that protect my right to expression.

Joyful77:
B*ullshit! You should listen to your own advice!!

Joyful77:
I don't think that you're sincere. Your threads reek of hostility towards Islam... At best you're an atheist, NOT a Muslim.

You people should desist from shameless pretexts abeg!!

usermane:
I am a Muslim, i just do not happen to be a traditional Muslim.

usermane:
B. Relious rulings from other than God

As the historic Arab polytheists wouldn't understand that every religious rule had to be from God, in the name of their idols, they did keep rules which God did not fix. Of course, they attributed these rules to God, afterall they believed their idols rule on authority of God. [size=16pt] Similarly, God is not the only ruler or legislator in the ideology of mainstream Islam. [/size] Traditional clergy differentiate "Obey God" from "Obey messenger", holding that God decrees and His messenger also decrees. [size=16pt] Indirectly Muhammad is set on virtually the same level with God, where he not only expand God 's law but over rule or abrogate them. [/size]

usermane:
Now, i can see why you were so opposed to the original post. You obviously read the thread i recommended haphazardly and misunderstand my word. Plus, you seem to have a lot of catching up to do as far as Qur'anic study goes.

Peace, Joyful77

malvisguy212:
https://www.nairaland.com/2092548/root-caused-islamic-terrorism

malvisguy212:
Joyful77.
The post you made are the old covenant which christ has fulfilled, the old testament people live by the law of God and when you break the law of God who do not tolerate evil, you will be punished, but today we live by his grace, we are not bound by the old covenant in Roman7:6:
Romans 7:6
But now we are released from the law,
having died to that which held us
captive, so that we serve in the NEW WAY
of the Spirit and not in the OLD WAY of the
written code.

So long as a man continues under
the law as a covenant, and seeks
justification by his own obedience, he
continues the slave of sin in some form.
Nothing but the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus, can make any sinner free from the law of sin and death. So we are not bound by the old testament law.

Joyful77:
Anyway, you should also be informed that Muslims these days are not also expected to fight according to those laws you quoted; those verses are contextual. Extremists who claim that they're killing based on the verses are merely exploiting them for their own selfish interests and are NOT fighting for Islam!!

Joyful77:
This verse below is clear. Are you saying that Jesus contradicted himself??

"Do not think that I [Jesus] have come to abolish the Law (the Old Testament) or the Prophets; [size=14pt] I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. [/size] I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law (the Old Testament) until everything is accomplished" (Matthew 5:17-18)

Anyway, you should also be informed that Muslims these days are not also expected to fight according to those laws you quoted; those verses are contextual. Extremists who claim that they're killing based on the verses are merely exploiting them for their own selfish interests and are NOT fighting for Islam!!

wiegraf:
[s] I know you're allowed to lie in order to spread your cancer, but oh once more, who do you think you're deceiving? Makes me wonder why you're still here..

If you honestly believe this, truly, then it's safe to assume many 11 year olds would comprehensibly whoop you in a standard IQ test or you're woefully ignorant of your religion's tenents. More likely the former. [/s]

malvisguy212:
when Jesus said"I come to fullfiled the law" he was indicating, he never sinned and he perfectly keep the law.to keep the law you need his grace he bestows upon Jesus christ;

Romans6:14
For sin shall no longer be your master,
because you are not under the law, but
under grace.
For more read this thread https://www.nairaland.com/2173054/what-jesus-meant-fullfiled-law

Joyful77:
The ONLY contribution you have are insults. Pathetic!

Joyful77:
https://www.nairaland.com/2203881/nigerian-group-muslims-against-terror/4#31817630

From my comment, I have extracted some quotes you might find interesting....

2 Chronicles 15: 12-13
"They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman"


Deutronomy 17: 12
"Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel"


Exodus 22:19
"Whoever sacrifices to any god, except the Lord alone, shall be doomed"


Deutronomy 13: 13-19 
"Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you,  you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock.  Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. "The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him." 


Deutronomy 13: 7-12
"If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you. You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as this in your midst"

Deutronomy 17: 2-5 
"Suppose a man or woman among you, in one of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, has done evil in the sight of the LORD your God and has violated the covenant by serving other gods or by worshiping the sun, the moon, or any of the forces of heaven, which I have strictly forbidden. When you hear about it, investigate the matter thoroughly. If it is true that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, then that man or woman must be taken to the gates of the town and stoned to death" 

Deutronomy 20:10-14
10When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. 11If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you. 12If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. 13When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand,  put to the sword all the men in it.  14As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the Lord your God gives you from your enemies. 

Hosea 13:16
The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword;  their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open." 

Did you know that Jesus supports all those gruesome killings? Read the NT quotes below...


"Do not think that I [Jesus] have come to abolish the Law (the Old Testament) or the Prophets;  I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law (the Old Testament) until everything is accomplished" (Matthew 5:17-18)

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I did not come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34)

You Christians love to quote Islamic scriptures and twist them but when a Muslim does the same, you go berserk! If my guess is right, the insults will start flowing in

frank317:
Fool!!! Of course Christianity did it, why shouldn't Islam.

And pls while killing, leave irreligious people out of it, we don't worship any God. The christians are ur rivals.

I hope u all finish each other so that we can have peace for once

wiegraf:
I'd point out you're being silly, but you're already religious so that's redundant.

For one, even if that were true, do you note who........began this thread??

Kayi...

Anyhoo, I've already made my point, but you're too foolish to note. That your creed is barbaric is without doubt. Your ogas don't deny it, and you really don't want me to open that book and expose your smelly blockoss. It's tiring and been done over and over (not to mention, again, your ogas don't even deny this...). Indeed all one need do is simply ask you what the punishment for apostasy is in your religion to make our point. Simple. No too much long story. So that is not up for debate.

I, or shall I shall say the people this thread is aimed at, do not care about your silly opinions that piss all over the conspicuous and obvious.

What this thread is about is how to deal with your cancer, not determine if you have cancer. I apologize if that's not clear to your infirmed brain due to the rhetorical question in the op.

So, kudos.

That said, I do enjoy pointing out folly a wee bit too much. I'll give you that.

frank317:
Fool!!! Of course Christianity did it, why shouldn't Islam.

And pls while killing, leave irreligious people out of it, we don't worship any God. The christians are ur rivals.

I hope u all finish each other so that we can have peace for once

"Is it me, or does islam turn otherwise decent people into barbarians?"

That said, it's hard to imagine Islam without extremism, the 'extremists' are simply following doctrine....

"It seem practicing the slow religion reaps you of common sense and morality INSTANTLY."

Joyful77:
Bigots have started again!

When Eric Rudolph carried out several bombings and killed people in America for leading anti Christian lives like aborting and subscribing to homosexuality; nobody blamed it on Christianity!!

The German pilot, Andrea Lubitz recently wasted 150 lives by crashing his flight on purpose in the French Alps. They said it was due to psychological problems! Nonsense!! I'm sure the world media would be upside down by now if he had been a Muslim!!

Now that Muslims are involved, hypocrites will blame it on Islam

Joyful77:
Dear d.ummy atheist, I have no qualms with whatever creed you or anyone choose, I'm okay with mine. It becomes my business when someone tries to label my religion in negative light.

If you had followed the thread from the beginning, you would have noticed how the poster tried to paint Islam black in the OP and in another comment. His words...







That silly conclusion that extremists are following religion is biased. Is it only 'religious' people who commit crimes Atheists have committed record breaking crimes in history.

The silly talk motivated this nasty comment from Nortcentral...


And that was why I asked that the criminals should be blamed and NOT Islam; just like Christianity wasn't blamed for the crimes of Eric Rudolph and Andrea Lubitz.

The bible quotes I posted was in response to another christian poster who sent me a link containing violent Quran verses, to tell him that all religions have fought wars, including his own. Not that I endorse killing of any sort by anyone.

If you atheists want to be left alone, stop engaging in religious nonsense! There are criminals in atheism too!! Besides I can see how much of a peace lover you are, in the bold part of your comment!! Over 4million of the world population should kill each other, so that atheists can have 'peace'

Joyful77:
Weird wiegraf.... Expanding the frontiers of s*tupidity!!

If those Muslim 'ogas' subscribe to killing as punishment for apostacy, it's a cause for worry in the sense that they've been blinded by their own thirst for violence, NOT because Islam taught them to. Even though apostasy happened right under his nose, Muhammad (PBUH) N-E-V-E-R killed anyone for apostasy in his lifetime, and THAT IS the 'oga', whose example I am meant to follow.

I suppose that this 'cancer' you talk about was also contacted by one of your ancestors in atheism- Joseph Stalin! He killed tens of millions of people and starved another tens of millions to death!! Guess what? He didn't get his inspiration from the Quran!!!

This is why I implore you to shake your head and allow your brain to fall back in place, so you can realize that the religion-blaming game doesn't solve the problem of violence but only takes attention away from it!

Read your own words... "Look at the xtians, their folly was once...well....." (Lol. You can't even express it well). Real atheists aren't partial, they knock out their opinions flat and bold, irrespective of the religion they're addressing!

But at least you agree that the christians' innumerable gruesome killings have been exposed. If the world engaged in religion-blaming game like you're doing now, instead of facing squarely the problem of extremism which happens to exist in all religions, atheism and agnosticism, would it have been possible??

wiegraf:
[s] Where to even begin?

The Oga you're supposed to follow? You mean the warlord pedo?

That....er...is the problem

You mention Stalin, please show me which atheist creed he followed which all atheists must adhere to...

Waiting....

You, on the other hand, glorify some camel lover that had no problem raping, slaving, murdering his way through some desert 1400 years ago. He even took some time out marry a six year old.

This is what you hold as holy, and thank you for making my point. I repeat, this barbaric. And clearly so

Meh [/s]

Kay17:
The manner in which people talk about the media, one gets the belief the media is a single full grown man!

What the hell is the media?! The media is a bunch of people shouting over each other. The people that have the access over the air waves are simple folks as you and I with their own peculiar stereotypes. It is ill advised to treat the press/media as a single voice.

Kay17:
In whose name are ISIS, Al Shabab, Boko Haram, Al Qaeda fighting for?! It is obviously on behalf of their God, hence the condemnation of Islam from many quarters. Each and every single violence ought to be condemned. Stop blaming victims for the offences taken out on them.