Bloggers in panic

Bloggers are in a panic. The bloggers who have left the country are safe. But those still here, are in fear of their lives. The government has taken no visible steps to ensure their security. They have had to go into hiding.

In broad daylight last Friday, blogger Niladri Chattopadhaya, also known as Niloy, was killed at home in Goran of the capital city. Bloggers apparently are being killed in line with the so-called “list of atheists” submitted to the government.

Niladri was also on the list. He informed on his Facebook page two months ago that he was under threat and then he went into hiding. Even after that, he was not spared. A blogger known to Niladri wrote on the Muktamona blog on Friday that the killers had snatched away Ananta Bijoy’s cell phone while killing him. The identity of all bloggers was exposed to the perpetrators in the Facebook chat list on that cell phone. Niladri was one of the best friends of Ananta. Having come to know that killers took away Ananta Bijoy’s cell phone, Niladri and two other bloggers went into hiding in remote villages.  

The blogger wrote: “Several foreign agencies came forward to the help of bloggers in Bangladesh. Many were able to leave the country.  It is not clear why Niloy could not leave.”

He wrote further, “I had communication with him (Niladri). He used to send me messages often while he was in hiding in the village. Following is an edited message of his.”

The message reads: “Dada, many thanks. I was already followed once and that is why I left Dhaka. I have come to a remote village by shifting my job. After coming here, I have communicated with many people online about going abroad. To tell the truth, I am in a panic. I am willing to leave the country. If it is not possible, I will go to India shortly after Eid. Please help me out.”

Another online activist blogged that it was as if an “unofficial execution warrant” had been issued against the bloggers. This correspondent found cell phones of several bloggers switched off after repeated attempts to contact them on Saturday.

Blogger Ahmed Rajiv Haider was killed on 15 February 2013 when Shahbagh’s Ganojagaran Mancha’s street agitation was in full swing, demanding death penalty for Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah. It began at that time. Four bloggers have been killed this year. Avijit Roy was killed in Dhaka University area on 26 February, Oyasiqur Rahman was killed on 30 March at Begunbari in the capital and Ananta Bijoy Das was killed on 12 May in Sylhet. The latest victim is Niladri Chattopadhyay who used to write on blogs and Facebook under the name of Niloy Neel.

Sources close to several bloggers said many bloggers have left the country while others are in the process of leaving and some are in hiding. Many of them have changed their cell phone numbers and addresses and many stop writing regularly. They are all trying to save themselves.

Ministry sources said, the list of bloggers was prepared before the Hefazat-e-Islam’s Dhaka siege programme on 5 May 2013.  As part of the negotiation with the government, the government formed a nine-member committee on 13 March in the same year. At the third meeting of the committee on 31 March, an Islamist organisation called Anjuman Al Baiyeenat handed over a “list of 56 atheists.”  At the same time, Jamaat-Shibir-run Facebook page “Basherkella” published a list of 84 bloggers. This list also included the names of 56 atheists prepared by the Al Baiyeenat.

According to blogger Baki Billah, “The state has contained militants like JMB. I don’t think that the network of this group (killers of bloggers) is so big. The state will be able to contain this group too if it wants.”

When contacted, Anjuman Al Baiyeenat spokesperson and daily Al Ehsan editor Muhammad Mahbub Alam told Prothom Alo, “Anybody can convert to an atheist. But it cannot be acceptable that someone will hurt others’ religious sentiment or will make anti-Islamic statements. We have given the home ministry a list of people who were writing on blogs hurting religious sentiment.”

When his attention was drawn to the fact that there are many on the list who never hurt religious sentiment in their write-ups, Mahbub Alam said, “This list was not prepared by us. The list was published on internet and Facebook at that time. All knew who used to write posts filled with hatred against Islam.”

Mahbub, however, said he does not agree that the bloggers would have to be killed even if they hurt religious sentiment.

He said, “You must give reply in writing. Killing can in no way be accepted.”

A blogger told Prothom Alo to his dismay, the home ministry has the so-called list of atheist bloggers but the government has taken no steps to ensure their security whereas five bloggers have been killed one after another.