No more Avijit, no more Dipan – and the way forward

The third most populous Muslim country in the world, Bangladesh is now at a crossroads to either maintain its distinctive secular identity or to become a theocracy. The present phenomenon of hacking to death free thinkers, including bloggers and online activists, in public places and at home are burning examples of this new reality. Also, the anti-extremist activist-publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan was murdered in his office in broad daylight on October 31, 2015, the fifth secular free thinker to be killed last year by suspected Islamic militants in Bangladesh. February 26 marked the death anniversary of Dr. Avijit Roy.

Allegedly, a hit list exists (which was created by violent Islamist organisations and their allies). In fact, 10 of those on the list of 84 free thinkers, activists, and bloggers have already been killed in similar incidents of violence in recent years in Bangladesh. The number of killings has increased in recent times, especially after 2013, when the Shahbagh movement swept up the whole country in the demand for capital punishment to the war criminals of 1971, most of whom happened to be leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami.

News reports and social media provide evidence of activists marked out by members of Islamist organisations such as Hizb-ut Tahrir, Bangladesh, and Islami Chhatra Shibir, the terrorist student wing of Jamaat–e-Islami, and Ansarullah Bangla Team, connected with Al-Qaeda, South Asia (AQIS), all outfits directly involved in committing heinous crimes. The last two organisations claimed responsibility for most of the killings, including that of Dipan.

The unfortunate reality is that extremist Islamist groups have created a list targeting online activists and free thinkers who have been criticising extremist ideologies and arguing instead in favour of progressive causes. The situation is getting worse since some of the bloggers who survive these attacks are exiled immediately, while some are exiled due to the threat it poses to others. Many others live in fear in the country.

International organisations such as PEN International (with 150 writers around the world), Article 19, Bangladesh and South Asia Chapter have appealed to the Bangladesh government to protect the bloggers' lives. Even UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has strongly condemned the continuing attacks on bloggers and publishers in Bangladesh and called on the government to take urgent action.

The irony is that, rather than being protected by the rule of law, bloggers and online netizens have been arrested on allegations of spreading anti-religious information or engaging in defamation of religion (Freedom House, 2015). Actually, the nation did not come to this point recently. The politics of manipulating the religion card and the denial of responsibility of the state in ensuring citizens' basic rights have put the country in a situation from where there is no immediate return (Gayen, 2015).

At this moment, it is important to continue to speak out against the erosion of the rule of law and secular values in Bangladesh; or else, the country will go the way of other countries which have recently been overtaken by such extremist philosophies, through citing the need to 'protect Islamic values'. Moreover, Bangladesh has historically been more moderate than either Pakistan or Afghanistan and these changing events can only tip the balance further away from secular freedoms.

Now is the time to examine the root causes of conflict and consider how Bangladeshi society could find a way out of such a situation from the perspectives of peace and conflict studies and new media – communication studies. One of the empirical aspects of the study would be how the issue emerged in virtual space like social media and blogs and how conflict and paranoia have seized the nation and state.

From the peace and conflict studies perspective, a community-based conflict resolution, i.e. the netizen virtual sphere, could be one of the practical areas to explore. The question is: Who will come forward to play the role of opening batsman? To be honest, it is not only the work of government or conscious netizens. Every citizen and institution has a responsibility here.

However, a practical role could be played by online news communities and communication professionals, including academics. Communications and journalism departments at public and private universities could play a vital role by providing 'New Media Management' courses where young students will learn about the challenges ahead and the responsibility of social media as well.

Let the young take forward the message of Digital Bangladesh.