New Delhi – Machete-wielding attackers in the capital of Bangladesh killed a 26-year-old writer Nazimuddin Samad — the sixth secularist writer or publisher to have been killed in Dhaka in the last 14 months.Police said the attack late Wednesday on Samad, a master’s student at Jagannath University, was planned.
“He was on his way back home from his evening classes when he was circled by a group of three to four people,” said Senior Assistant Police Commissioner Nurul Amin of the Dhaka Police.
“First the attackers hacked Samad with machetes, then shot him.”
Police said the attackers then fled the scene on motorcycles. No arrests have been made.
Bangladeshi students took to the streets to protest against the brutal killing.
The killing is certain to add to fears among intellectuals and writers who have challenged religious thought in Bangladesh, a majority Muslim country with a sizable Hindu religious minority.
The constitution in Bangladesh defines Islam as the state religion. But it also includes a clause promising to defend the “principle of secularism.”
Imran Sarker, who leads a blogging and online activist network in Bangladesh, described Samad as a “very active secular activist.”
“He was very vocal on issues of religious fundamentalism, war crimes, minority issues, corruption and injustice against women,” Sarker said.
“He used to regularly post notes on Facebook expressing his views.” – CNN
