GUWAHATI, May 24 � The Journalists� Forum Assam (JFA) has expressed serious concern over the killing of three bloggers in Bangladesh this year and urged the Sheikh Hasina government in Dhaka to probe the matter with all seriousness so that the culprits can be booked under relevant laws.
Media reports reveal that miscreants killed the third Bangladeshi blogger named Ananta Bijoy Das (33), in Sylhet on May 12.
Prior to him, a US-based atheist blogger Avijit Roy (42) and activist-writer Washiqur Rahman (26), were hacked to death in the Bangladesh national capital.
�Unconfirmed sources claim that all three secular bloggers were assassinated for their online articles advocating reforms in various Islamic laws by the ultra-conservative Islamist elements, which are gaining ground in the country. Though claimed as a secular democratic country, Bangladesh�s legal system is partially based on Islamic laws,� said a JFA statement here.
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, in a statement from Paris, voiced grave concern about the safety of citizen-journalists in Bangladesh following the killing of the bloggers.
Quoting her, the JFA statement called upon the authorities to ensure that those responsible for the recent killings are brought to justice, adding that checking such attacks is indispensable to maintain free public debate and free expression by media professionals and committed citizens alike.
The JFA statement, issued by its president Rupam Barua and secretary NavaThakuria, while urging the Bangladeshi authorities to take concrete action against the religious fanatics in the poverty-stricken populous country, also extended its moral support to the secular and democratic forces in their relentless fights against the intolerance shown to the free thinkers in that country.
