Dhaka, student hacked to death for his ideas against Islamic extremism

Nazimuddin Samad was 28 years old and studied Law at the Jagannath University. Friends describe him as a brave free thinker. He was part of the Ganajagaran Mancha movement, which defends the rights of bloggers. On his Facebook page, the student had criticized the Islamic drift in the country.

 

Dhaka (AsiaNews) - Nazimuddin Samad, a 28 year-old law student was hacked to death and shot for his ideas contrary to Islamic radicalism. The murder took place around 8 pm last night at a busy intersection in the Sutrapur, a historical district of the capital of Bangladesh. The young man was returning home with friends after attending courses offered by Jagannath University, where he had been admitted a few months ago. Friends have reported that the student as a "courageous" free thinker who supported the formation of a secular country that respects human rights. He was also part of Ganajagaran Mancha, a movement for bloggers’ rights.

Some witnesses reported that three assailants on motorcycles approached Nazimuddin near the intersection of Ekrampur and started to attack him with machetes. Then they fired a gunshot to his head, to make sure of his death. Witnesses also report that as they struck him, the attackers shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is great).

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the act, but the incident recalls the killing of four other bloggers, murdered for their "atheistic ideas".

For some time, Muslim extremists have been targeting free thinkers and democracy activists, justifying their killing by calling their victims "atheists".

Ahmed Rajib Haider was the first blogger to be killed for his “anti-Islam" ideas in 2013. So far this year, four other bloggers have lost their lives. In February Avijt Roy was murdered near the University Dhaka; in late March, also in the capital, Muslim fundamentalists hacked to death Oyasiqur Rahman; two months later, it was the turn of Ananta Bijoy Das, who was murdered in Sylhet; and finally, Niloy Chakrabarti was killed, execution style, in August in broad daylight, under the eyes of his mother and sister. On October 31, Faisal Dipan Arefin, a publisher with progressive ideas, was stabbed to death.

Nazimuddin was the son of Shamshul Haque and he was born in Sylhet. He was an activist of the Ganajagaran Mancha group, which works for the defense of free thought in Bangladesh and calls for the punishment of war criminals from the struggle for liberation war of 1971. On his Facebook profile he wrote: "I do not belong to any religion". On the same platform, the day before his murder he had expressed his concern about the Islamist drift of the country and the government inaction.

(Sumon Corraya collaborated)

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