***Update*** (11/4): According to one source who knew him well, Faisal Arefin Dipon was not an atheist. My apologies for making that assumption. It’s even more courageous, perhaps, that Dipon was willing to publish books by atheists even though he didn’t necessarily agree himself.
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A day after the assassination of Faisal Arefin Dipon, a publisher who helped release books written by Dr. Avijit Roy (who was also assassinated) and who had ties to three other activists (who were also assassinated), a Bangladeshi official now says they had nothing to do with each other:
… Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal today said such attacks are not new in Bangladesh.
“Yesterday’s attacks are isolated incidents and such attacks also occur in other countries of the world,” the minister told reporters at his ministry office today.
Like hell they were isolated incidents. And they don’t happen in other countries, unless you’re talking about the ones that violate human rights on a regular basis.
But since Kamal can’t see the common thread between the victims, let me help him out:
Maybe he can connect the dots now?
Ignoring the obvious is just another example of the incompetence shown by Bangladeshi officials throughout this whole ordeal. They haven’t done enough to protect the five atheists who’ve already been murdered this year and the several dozens more who remain on a terrorist group’s hit list.