Letter Bombs In Bangla

Bangladesh was fortunate to have quickly adopted the culture of blogging at a time when internet usage was not widespr­ead. In the following years, Bangladesh’s bloggers and blogging in the country have witnessed the worst of times. Islamic chauvinist vigilantes painstakingly browsed blogs and earmarked names of bloggers whom they identified as ‘blasphemous’ and ‘anti-Islam’. Indeed, the wrath of deshi jehadis surfaced as soon as the blog revolution was sparked off in December 2005.

This year three bloggers were hacked to death with machetes by fanatics. Bloggers were intimidated, some were jailed, while several bloggers and cartoonists fled the country.