Bangladesh Secular Bloggers Defiant Despite New Threats

[rug]

Shaikh Azizur Rahman
September 28, 2015 10:17 AM

KOLKATA, INDIA— A Bangladesh-based hardline Islamist group last week issued a “hit list,” threatening to kill 20 outspoken Bangladeshi bloggers, writers and activists, most of whom have already fled the country in the face of continuing threats.

The list, issued by banned militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), raises fears that the Islamic extremists are apparently seeking to take their attack on the so-called “freethinkers” beyond the territory of the southeast Asian country.

In the past two years, about 10 secular bloggers and their supporters have been killed by religious extremists in Bangladesh because of their writings criticizing religious extremism.

In response to the threats and violence, some have moved abroad.

http://www.voanews.com/content/bangladesh-secular-bloggers-defiant-despite-new-threats/2982323.html