While I was in the midst of reading this book, repetition of a gruesome incident in neighbouring country, Bangladesh, shook me up. The death of Niloy Neel, an atheist and defender of secularism and minority rights, in Bangladesh certainly forced me to look for an answer. It was the fourth killing of a blogger in less than six and half months. In February, this year, Avijit Roy got killed by so called ‘Islamists’ after receiving a life threat. Then, Washiqur Rahman and Ananta Bijoy Das were killed in March and May respectively. Why have the critical voices in favour of secularism and minority (read LGBT) rights suddenly been put to death in a secular country dominated by Muslim population? What makes Islamists go for a kill?
October 2015, volume 39, No 10