Militant group publishes global hitlist of bloggers, activists and writers
Nine UK-based bloggers on list published by Bangladesh group
Ansarullah Bangla Team, who have been blamed for a series of murders
Bangladeshi secular activists take part in a torch-lit protest against
the killing of blogger Niloy Chakrabarti, who used the pen-name Niloy
Neel, in Dhaka on 8 August.
Photograph: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images
An Islamic militant group in Bangladesh
has issued a hitlist of secular bloggers, writers and activists around
the world, saying they will be killed if its demands are not met.
The list will raise fears that ongoing Islamic militant violence
within the unstable south Asian country could take on an international
dimension.
The targets in the list include nine bloggers based in the UK, seven
in Germany, two in the US, one in Canada and one in Sweden. Some are
Bangladeshi citizens living overseas. Others are dual nationals or
citizens of the western nations.
The list was issued in a statement on the internet by the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a group that has been blamed for a series of murders of bloggers and activists
in Bangladesh over the last 18 months. All those killed have been
prominent critics of extremist religious doctrines, especially in Islam.
The acting leader of the ABT and two close associates were arrested earlier this month in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, for their involvement in the murder of a secular blogger earlier this year.
Individuals on the new list have told the Guardian that they intend to keep writing and blogging.
“Our weapon is [the] pen, and we can use it without hurting anybody.
We just want to make people conscious about their rights. So that nobody
can use them to fulfill bad intentions,” said Ananya Azad, a
Bangladeshi blogger who has been forced into exile in Europe and is on
the list.
There has been no previous indication that the ABT were targeting
bloggers overseas and the list will worry security authorities in Europe
and the US.
Bangladesh police escort head of the ABT Abul Bashar, left, and members
Zafran Hassan, centre, and Julhas Bishas, second right. Photograph:
Stringer/AFP/Getty Images
British-based bloggers of Bangladeshi origin named on the list have
approached police in London and elsewhere following its publication.
They say authorities have have advised them to take precautions to
minimise the risk of attack.
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It
is unclear if the ABT has the capability to carry out their threats,
but their call for action may prompt individuals to mount so-called
“lone wolf” attacks.
Police have charged an ABT organiser and four supporters with the murder of a 27-year-old blogger, Washiqur Rahman, in Dhaka in March.
Rahman’s death came just weeks after a Bangladesh-born American
atheist blogger was murdered in Dhaka by machete-wielding attackers.
The murder in February of Bangladeshi-born US citizen Avijit Roy, a science writer and blog moderator, prompted outrage around the world. His US-based widow is among those named on the new list the group appear to have issued.
Officials believe the ABT is close to the Ansar ul-Islam
organisation, which is part of al-Qaida in south Asiaand launched by the
extremist organisation about a year ago.
The statement featured a logo comprising a black flag carrying the
seal of the prophet Mohammed, often favoured by extremist groups, and
the phrase: “We do not forget, we do not forgive” in English.
‘I will write until the end of my life’ – Ananya Azad, a Bangladeshi blogger on the list. Photograph: AM Ahad/AP
Al-Qaida has publicly praised
violent operations by the ABT and has hailed activists charged with the
murder of bloggers as “lions of the international community”.
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The
new list is accompanied by an incoherent demand to strip bloggers of
their citizenship. It appears to be addressed to the government of
Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina, though many of those on the
hitlist have dual nationality or are citizens of Britain, the US or
European nations.
“Cancel the Bangladeshi citizenship of enemies of Islam
and [Muslim religious] education, atheists, apostates, unbelievers,
anti-Islamic ... bloggers, agents of India ... otherwise they will be
killed wherever they can be found in the Almighty’s world,” said the
statement.
The exact origin of the list is unclear, and some have doubted it is
an official statement from the ABT in Bangladesh, but instead compiled
or published from the UK or elsewhere in the west.
More than 150 writers, including Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Yann Martel and Colm Tóibín, signed a letter condemning the series of fatal attacks and calling on the government of Bangladesh “to ensure that the tragic events … are not repeated”.
Authorities in Dhaka have been previously criticised for requesting
local bloggers and activists to avoid provocative statements on
sensitive religious issues.
A spokesperson for Human Rights Watch,
the international campaigning group, last month called for the
government “to recall that its duty is to uphold the constitution and
protect people’s lives, as well as their religious freedom”.
“It’s shocking that Bangladesh authorities not only failed to protect
the bloggers despite complaints to the police about threats against
them, but instead are proposing self-censorship,” said the spokesperson.
Repeated efforts to contact senior Bangladeshi officials for comment this week were unsuccessful.
Bangladesh is an officially secular country, but more than 90% of its
160 million people are Muslim. It gained its independence from Pakistan
after a brutal civil war in 1971, which left deep scars.
In recent years a new surge of extremism has exacerbated long standing tensions between conservatives and secular liberals.
Those on the list say they are aware of the dangers of their activism.
“I can’t give you assurance that I can’t be hurt here also.
Fundamentalists have threatened that they will come and kill me,” said
blogger Azad.
“I can’t say that I am fully safe, as the fundamentalists know where I
am residing. I can’t say what will happen in future, but I can give you
this assurance that I will write until the end of my life.”
