A series of apparently endless attacks on secular writers in Bangladesh continue to rock the nation & the world. After publishing my piece on the murders in The Daily Beast, I went on HuffPost Live to analyze what the deaths mean in the larger context of regional politics & Bangladeshi identity.
There are so many disturbing aspects to the deaths of these bloggers, from Avijit to Niloy to Washiqur. Who is next? If writers are targets in Bangladesh, anyone who has the courage to write an article, and those who dare to publish them, are all at risk.
There are echoes of 1971 everywhere, but what these latest deaths confirm is that there is a clear strategy yet again to eliminate thinkers, young intellectuals in Bangladesh by slaughtering them. Think of the minds that we have lost and the many more silenced by fear and intimidation. To be honest, I am scared, too.