Washiqur Rahman Babu of Bangladesh becomes another martyr in the fight against religious bigotry in the sub-continent. The criminals, under the garb of religion, think that by killing people, they can also kill ideas. They are mistaken. Raise your voice against religious intolerance. Shamsul Islam

Another blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh: police. A blogger known for his atheist views has been stabbed to death in Bangladesh, in the latest of a series of attacks on independent writers in the developing South Asian nation.

Washiqur Rahman, 27, died of serious injuries inflicted in the assault on Monday morning in Dhaka, the capital.

Police have arrested two men for the murder, which comes just weeks after an American atheist blogger was killed in Dhaka, in a crime that triggered international outrage.

Local police chief Wahidul Islam told Agence France-Presse the victim had been “brutally hacked to death this morning with big knives just 500 yards <460 metres> from his home at Dhaka’s Begunbari area”.

Islam said the two detained men were arrested immediately after the attack as they tried to flee the scene.

The suspects have so far been identified only as Zikrullah, said to be a student at a religious school near the city of Chittagong, and Ariful Islam, who police say was studying at the Darul Ulum religious school in Dhaka. Police are hunting a third man.

“Those who killed him differed on his ideologies about religion. He was not an atheist. He was a believer. But the way he followed religion was different from the way radical groups insist,” Biplob Kumar Sarkar, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan police, told the Guardian.

However, Tamanna Setu, a friend of Rahman, said: “He used to write a satirical column on Facebook about against believers. He was an atheist. His killing has to be connected to his writing,”

One social media activist said that he used to write “against religious fundamentalism”. Read More on https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/30/blogger-hacked-death-bangladesh-dhaka

(With courtesy The Guardian)

प्रोफेसर शमसुल इस्लाम

प्रोफेसर शमसुल इस्लाम के बारे में जानकारी प्रोफेसर शमसुल इस्लाम (Shamsul Islam) एक प्रतिष्ठित भारतीय शिक्षाविद्, लेखक और सामाजिक विचारक हैं, जिन्होंने दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय में राजनीति विज्ञान विषय में 1973 से 2013 तक अध्यापन कर तथा समकालीन भारतीय राजनीतियों पर अपनी आलोचनात्मक दृष्टि प्रस्तुत की। वह हस्तक्षेप के सम्मानित स्तंभकार हैं। शिक्षक से आलोचक तक: 1973 से 2013 तक उन्होंने दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय में राजनीति विज्ञान की शिक्षण सेवा निभाई, और देश में हिंदुत्ववाद, इतिहास के पुनर्लेखन, धार्मिक असहिष्णुता, दलितों तथा अल्पसंख्यकों के उत्पीड़न पर बेबाक आलोचना की। शमसुल इस्लाम केवल शैक्षणिक नहीं थे, बल्कि सक्रिय नुक्कड़ नाटककार भी रहे। उन्होंने ‘निशांत’ नामक सबसे पुराने स्ट्रीट थियेटर समूह की स्थापना की और कई देशों में जाति, लिंग, धार्मिक असहिष्णुता जैसे विषयों पर केंद्रित सामाजिक मुद्दों पर 6,000 से अधिक मंचीय प्रस्तुतियाँ दीं। उल्लेखनीय: हिंदुत्व, धार्मिक कट्टरता और महिलाओं, दलितों एवं अल्पसंख्यकों के उत्पीड़न के विरुद्ध मुखर रुख। इन विषयों पर उन्होंने कई पुस्तकें और लेख लिखे हैं। आप संदर्भित दस्तावेज़ों में उनकी उल्लेखनीय साहित्यिक कृतियों की सूची पा सकते हैं। उन्होंने कई पुस्तकें और लेख लिखें, जिनमें मुख्य शीर्षक इस प्रकार हैं: Religious Dimensions of Indian Nationalism: A Study of RSS. Savarkar Myths and Facts. Know the RSS, Cultural Nationalism, Hindutva and Fascism. Indian Freedom Movement and RSS, Democracy versus Communalism एवं RSS and Modi: An Untold Story आदि।