Indulgence towards bigots

RELIGIOUS extremists are using the internet to spread their fanatical propaganda throughout the world and Bangladesh is no exception. The brutal murder of Avijit Roy on February 26 has been a wakeup call regarding just how serious these religious bigots are about carrying out their threats. But it is also the sluggish attitude of the authorities on catching those who blatantly promote religious bigotry on social media, that is disconcerting. Avijit Roy had been receiving death threats online for about a year from religious fanatics including the arrested Shafiur Rahman Farabi. It is a mystery why the law enforcement agencies remained indifferent to such clear motives for murder. 

A Daily Star report (March 12, 2015) quotes an IT expert saying that the government has closed down over a 100 websites in the last three months for uploading anti-government contents. Several individuals, moreover, have been arrested with alacrity for making derogatory or threatening remarks against leaders of the ruling party. It is therefore not about lack of technical expertise or coordination that law enforcers have not been being able to catch the killers of certain bloggers but rather a dearth in their sincerity to do so. 

When a citizen's life is being threatened, regardless of what his religious or political affiliation maybe, the law enforcers' job is to do everything possible to investigate a death threat and catch potential assailants. According to the same report a barrister of the Supreme Court has mentioned that a death threat is a specific criminal offense and police can take action under section 57 of the ICT Act. The law enforcing agents must not have any bias when catching cyber criminals.