The Rich, Educated Jihadis of Bangladesh

The recent terrorist attack in Bangladesh once again raises the question, "What causes jihad?" Politicians and the media often answer this question by claiming that jihad arises from poverty and lack of education. The Bangladeshi jihadis, however, were wealthy and well-educated. It seems we must search for the source of jihad elsewhere. What happens if we examine the teachings of Muhammad?

Bangladeshi Blogger Ananta Bijoy Das Hacked to Death for Criticizing Islam

After jihadists attacked a Muhammad cartoon exhibit in Texas, the media blamed Pamela Geller for provoking Muslims to violence. Yet in other countries, we see the harsh consequences of not standing up for freedom of speech. Bangladeshi blogger Ananta Bijoy Das, for instance, has been hacked to death for criticizing Islam, and police have no idea how to stop the wave of violence against critics of Islam. Will the media continue blaming bloggers for provoking Muslims?

Ananta Bijoy Das

CNN—The attack on bloggers critical of Islam has taken on a disturbing regularity in Bangladesh with yet another writer hacked to death Tuesday.

Ananta Bijoy Das, 32, was killed Tuesday morning as he left his home on his way to work at a bank, police in the northeastern Bangladeshi city of Sylhet said.

Four masked men attacked him, hacking him to death with cleavers and machetes, said Sylhet Metropolitan Police Commissioner Kamrul Ahsan.

The men then ran away. Because of the time of the morning when the attack happened, there were few witnesses. But police said they are following up on interviewing the few people who saw the incident.

"It's one after another after another," said Imran Sarker, who heads the Blogger and Online Activists Network in Bangladesh. "It's the same scenario again and again. It's very troubling."

Das' death was at least the third this year of someone who was killed for online posts critical of Islam. In each case, the attacks were carried out publicly on city streets.

In March, Washiqur Rahman, 27, was hacked to death by two men with knives and meat cleavers just outside his house as he headed to work at a travel agency in the capital, Dhaka.

In February, a Bangladesh-born American blogger, Avijit Roy, was similarly killed with machetes and knives as he walked back from a book fair in Dhaka.

The three victims are hardly the only ones who have paid a steep price for their views.

In the last two years, several bloggers have died, either murdered or under mysterious circumstances. (Continue Reading.)

Atheist Blogger Oyasiqur Rahman Babu Hacked to Death by Muslim Madrassa Students in Bangladesh

Non-Muslims living in Muslim countries usually aren't free to express their views of Islam. Hence, the only people who can openly challenge Muhammad's teachings are people in non-Muslim countries. Yet those of us who live in non-Muslim countries are told by our own politicians, the media, and Muslim organizations to keep our mouths shut about Islam. Should we give Islam a free pass?

Oyasiqur Rahman Babu

Dhaka Tribune—Radical Islamists hacked to death secular blogger Md Oyasiqur Rahman Babu Monday morning in Tejgaon, Dhaka allegedly for his atheist views.

A travel agency executive, Oyasiqur’s murder was premeditated. Three assailants swooped on Oyasiqur, 27, armed with machetes around 9am on Dipika Mosque Lane of Begunbari, close to Tejgaon Textile Engineering University, when he was going to office in Motijheel.

While fleeing, two of the killers – Zikrullah, a student of Hefazat-e-Islam's Hathazari Madrasa in Chittagong, and Ariful, student of Mirpur Darul Uloom Madrasa – were held by two transgendered persons as locals remained reluctant to chase the killers. The other member of the team, Abu Taher, escaped.

The duo was handed over to police, who later recovered the machetes from the crime scene, Tejgaon industrial police OC Salauddin said.

The incident took place only a month after secular blogger and former Buet teacher Avijit Roy and his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya came under attack by extremists. Avijit succumbed to his injuries at a hospital. Police are yet to solve the case but claim that the killers might be linked to the banned Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir and Ansarullah Bangla Team. (Continue Reading.)

Atheist Blogger Avijit Roy Hacked to Death with Machetes in Bangladesh

According to the Obama Administration, the attackers simply needed jobs.

Reuters—Machete-wielding assailants hacked to death a blogger in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, in the latest of a series of attacks on writers who support free thinking values in the Muslim-majority nation.

The attack comes amidst a crackdown on hardline Islamist groups, which have increased activities in recent years in the South Asian nation.

Avijit Roy, a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi origin, and his wife and fellow blogger, Rafida Ahmed, were attacked on Thursday while returning from a book fair. Ahmed was seriously injured.

Police retrieved two machetes from the site, but have not yet identified any suspects.

They said they were investigating the involvement of Ansarullah Bangla Team, an Islamist extremist group based in Bangladesh that claimed responsibility on Friday for the murder.

Roy's family said Islamist radicals had been threatening him in recent weeks because he maintained a blog, "Mukto-mona", or "Freemind", that highlighted humanist and rationalist ideas and condemned religious extremism.

"Islamist radicals are behind my son's murder," Ajay Roy told reporters on Friday after filing a murder case with police. (Continue Reading.)