A memorial to murdered writer-blogger Avijit Roy at the University of Dhaka campus. Demotix/SK Hasan Ali. All rights reserved.
The murder of Avijit Roy, a Bangladeshi-American blogger, in Dhaka last week has provoked much due outrage and denunciation. Avijit was stabbed to death at University of Dhaka campus and his accompanying wife was also viciously attacked. That it was so brutally inflicted on both Roy and his wife only adds to the horrific nature of this crime.
It is however important to address this tragedy not with the hot-headed approach of the assailants but the cool-minded thinking of those who believe in the rule of law and the essential equality of human life. Standard legal procedure in any professed democracy dictates that a crime first be investigated before criminals are identified and made accountable. The demand now must be that impartial investigations be conducted and justice delivered accordingly. The FBI too have offered their assistance in this. Yet, Avijit’s murder is already being treated with the simplistic narratives witnessed around the Charlie Hedbo tragedy: as an attack on the liberal proponents of free speech by religious extremists. This threatens further polarisation and violence in an already toxic environment.
