Free thinking movement in Bangladesh and nightmare

Published on Wednesday, 26 February 2020

On February 26, 2020 it will be five years since Avijit Roy was killed brutally by Islamist extremists as he was making his way back from the Dhaka Book Fair. During these five years, Bangladesh has been passing through a nightmare; a nightmare from which it is not likely to be released in the near future. The online free thinking movement, that was initiated by Avijit Roy, has been shrinking due to various governmental and societal pressures. Legal actions are being taken by the government against anybody who would question blind faith, even the traditional spiritual nonsectarian humanism that was practiced in Bengal since ancient times is slowly being crushed. Here we remember what Tagore wrote: The truth is ruthless, yet I fell in love with the ruthlessness. Humankind has chosen the path of truth, that path is ruthless. On this day, we remember the sacrifice that Avijit and his other fallen kindred spirits made to pave a rational path of humanism and logic.