A different kind of Halloween In Bangladesh: Brutal killings of free-thinkers

Halloween or Hallowe’en, a contraction of all Hallows’ Evening, is a celebration brought to the USA by the Irish and Scottish immigrants in 19th century. In the late 20th century this celebration of Halloween was also observed in other western countries. Now, in the present time Halloween is celebrated in almost all the western countries namely, USA, Canada, Ireland, UK, and many other countries. Other than the countries mentioned earlier it is observed being celebrated in countries like Japan in Asia, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. According to the popular belief among the people of Irish, British Welsh community, the pagan god of death Samhain (SAH-win) calls upon all the souls/ spirits of the dead people. According to the belief, in that night all the man made laws are no longer active and the dead spirits are allowed to join the world of alive world. They also believed that, all the dead spirits lived in a land in the form of immortal youngs, and were called “Tir nan Oge”. Some believed that the dead ones lived with angels.

It was told in a folklore that, all the dead ones come to the alive world in order to take on a new body form for the upcoming new year, in the night of 31st October. In order to be protected from the influence of evil spirits necessary precautions are taken. Such a ritual was to make new sacred fire in the next dawn, which symbolizes also the upcoming new year.

In Britain and Ireland the clerics would reunite in a dark mountain in the Oak Forest in order to make sacred fire and to sacrifice seeds and animals. They would dance and sing around the fire till dawn, in a belief that would show the path to the destiny in the upcoming year. In the dawn, the clerics would wear the coal which was burned from each families.

From Arts by Rats

Halloween was also celebrated in Bangladesh in 21st century. The first wave plunged on to Humayun Azad. Then it started with the murder of Rajib Haider on 15 February 2013. Then it maintained its pace by killing Avijit Roy. Bangladeshi Halloween is completely different from that of other countries.

The history of religious killing is very old. The evil practice of religious killing is brought to this century by the fanatic religious people. In recent times the celebration of Halloween is also  observed in the Islamic countries as well as in India. But it is now a big event for the Islamic Mullahs. Halloween is celebrated in many countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other Islamic countries. Islamic fanatics believe that the free thinking writers call upon the people to the freedom and thus their religious cheating business are under threat. Although the Halloween is celebrated in a particular day in western countries, it is celebrated whenever the time seems right in fanatic religious countries. It is celebrated by killing of two writers in a same day, or the celebration can be postponed for months for the lacking of “chances”.

Fanatic religious people believe that the blessings of god rains down upon then whenever they celebrate Halloween in their own terms. As many as 72 of whores and gelmans are be reserved for their life after death. Westerns believe that the in the day of Halloween dead souls come to the living world to take a new body, and the fanatics believe that the whores begin waiting for them since that day. Religious Fanatics believe that their place in heaven is confirmed as soon as they book a place for the writers in hell.

In western countries people get dressed as horror figures, but in Bangladesh a guy having beard wearing long white gown is an iconic horror figure.

Daud Haider lives in Germany. Who exiled for his Poem In 1974. Fundamentalist said they were hunted by his writing poems.

Fundamentalist groups called a conference and gave a statement to ban Taslima Nasrin’s books and demanded for her punishment.

Fundamentalist groups demanded capital Punishment of writer & Intellectual Professor Ahmad Sharif.

Shamsur Rahman, a prominent Bangladeshi poet was attacked by fundamentalists on 18th January 1999

27 February 2004, Bangladeshi author, poet, scholar and linguist Humayun Azad had been attacked at book fair on Dhaka about 8:30pm

Arifur Rahman worked for the ‘ Alpin’ a satirical publication of “prothom-alo”. In 2007 he had been arrested for one of his cartoon that allegedly hurts the mass religious sentiments. At prison he had been attacked by islamic fundamentalists. Now he is at Norway.

Asif Mohiuddin a known Bangladeshi blogger. He had been attacked on 15th January 2013 around 10pm after his office at uttara, Dhaka

Ahmed Rajib Haider a blogger from Bangladesh and also An architect by profession, On the night of 15 February 2013, he was attacked and hacked to death at Mirpur, Dhaka

Bangladeshi blogger Russel Parvez, Subrata Shuvo and Mosiur Rahman Biplab had been arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiment on 1st April 2013. After 2 days police also arrested Asif Mohiuddin

Jagat Jyoti Talukdar an activist of Ganajagaran Mancha and Blogger, had been hacked to death on 2 march 2013 at Sylhet

Zia Uddind Zakaria was an activist of Ganajagaran Mancha and Blogger. He was hacked to death on 2 march 2013 at Sylhet

Blogger and Engineer Sanaur Rahman had been attacked by fundamentalists on 9 march 2013 at mirpur pallabi, Dhaka

Rayhan Rahee and Ullash Dash of chittagong had been attacked by Islami chatra shibir on 30th march 2014 on chittagong. Picture of Rayhan Rahee

Arif Rayhan Deep a 3rd year student of BUET had been attacked and hacked to death on 9 April 2013, at Dhaka

Blogger Tanmoy Ahmed Moon was a student of BUET had been attacked by fundamentalists on 11 august 2013, at- Gaibandha, Bangladesh.

Facebook user Rakib Mamun had been attacked for being atheist on 24 june 2014, at- dhaka

Ashraful Alam a student of Capital University Ashulia, Savar. He had been attacked and hacked to death for being anti-Islamic on 30th September 2014

On 16th November 2014 Dr. A K M Safiul Islam a prominent teacher of University on Rajshahai had been attaked and killed for talking against HIJAB at- Rajshahai, Bangladesh.

Anjali Devi Chodhuri was a Lectureer of Chittagong Nurshing Instute. 11 January 2015, she was killed for only hijab issue on her institute.

In 2015, Bangla Academy banned ’23 Years of Prophet Muhammad’ by Ali Dasti, , simply for such a silly demand raised by a fundamentalist group – Hefazat-E-Islam. The fundamentalists’ group had also threatened the owner of Rodel Publisher for publishing the book.

In February 2015, a Bangladeshi-American computer engineer and founder of the secularist website Mukto-Mona, Avijit Roy, was hacked to death in a Dhaka street. Islamic terrorist nearly killed Ahmed too: slicing off her thumb and covering her body with wounds.

Avijit Roy donated his body at Dhaka medical college.

30 March 2015, Washikur Babu had been murdered around 9:00 am at way to his office.

Writer Ananta Bijoy Dash had been attacked and killed in Sylhet, on 12 may 2015,

Blogger Nlioy Neel had been killed at his home on 7 august 2015-at Dhaka

For Publishing Avijit Roy’s book, owner of the publication “Jagriti Prokashoni” named Faisal Arifin Dipon had been hacked to death by Islamic fundamentalists on 31 September 2015 at Sahabag, Dhaka

Office in Dhaka on October 31 in 015 publisher of Avijit Roy and owner of “Suddhasbara” Tulul along with writer and blogger Ranadipam Basu was injured on 31 October 2015

31 October 2015: Ahmed Rashid Tutul was injured in his publication at “Suddhasbara”  , Dhaka

31 October 2015: Along with Ahmed Rashid Tutul poet Tareq Rahim also was Injured seriously

In Bangladesh Islamic terrorist no only they attack Atheist, they also attack and kill believer person of different thought. 21 December 2013, they killed six people in a house at Gapibagh in Dhaka city.

Six people were killed by Islamic terrorist group. Lutfur Rahman (60), his son Monir Hosen (30), His follower Saidur Rahman (30), Mujibur Rahman (32), Russel (30), Rahman’s house boy Monjurul Alam were killed.

Famous TV anchor Mawlana Nurul Islam Farooki had been killed at his own residence on 27 September 2014. His Followers said – Jamat has responsible for the murder

6 October 2015, A religious leader named Khizir Khan had been killed by extremists on Dhaka

5 September 2015: At Ser-shah Bangla bazaar, Chittagong; the extremist group killed 2 people inside a Shrine

 One killed and scores wounded in attack at Shia site in Bangladesh capital

24 October 2015, At least one person has been killed and nearly 80 wounded on Saturday in a bomb attack outside the main Shia site in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka as thousands gathered for the annual Ashura procession, police said.

Muazzin killed, 3 injured in Bogra Shia mosque shooting

26 November, 2015 At least a devotee was killed and three others were injured as gunmen opened fire entering a Shia mosque in Shibganj upazila of Bogra this evening.

Islamist Terrorism Fatalities in Bangladesh (2005 – 2015)

This soil of us- contains the blood of hundreds of our brothers. Similar incidence happens 44 years ago at 1971 by Pakistan in thins very same soil. Now this job is performed by Radical Islamists. Intellectual Killing by Religious Fundamentalists has a thousand year history. Ahmad Rony made a wonderful video on this killing. You can watch the video, the link is given below.https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=OCYM40PyQqg

How does ISIS get weapons from its enemies?

ISIS is well-armed, but where does it get its weapons when it lacks the legitimacy of a state and the (known) support of any government? Thanks to loopholes in government arms regulations and profit-driven dealers, ISIS manages to get its hands on weapons coming from the countries fighting them.

The global black market in arms smuggling plays a substantial role in ISIS’s procurement of weapons. The black market is intricately linked to the legal arms trade often facilitated by powerful governments worldwide. When ISIS forces captured strategic cities in northern Iraq, including Mosul in 2014, they managed to acquire military stocks worth hundreds of millions dollars from Iraqi defense and security forces – many of which were supplied by the United States. The stocks include US-made Abrams tanks, M16 rifles, MK-19 40mm grenade launchers, and Russian M-46 field guns (acquired from the Syrian army.) Private weapons vendors in Iraq one day found ISIS dealers among their existing civilian customer base. Many intermediary arms dealers sell to ISIS even if they do not support them. As can be seen on the map in Figure 1, major munitions black market centers straddle rebel and ISIS-controlled regions.

Figure 1.Weapons and munitions travel between various rebel groups and ISIS supporters through black market dealers.Financial Times
In Iraq, pro-government militia and private shopkeepers who purchase weapons from the government openly sell to civilians and the black market, who then sell to ISIS purchasers. In Syria, arms dealers working exclusively for ISIS could purchase weapons from the government, other rebel groups fighting against ISIS, Iraqis, or Israelis. Gulf supporters of rebel groups in Syria send munitions over the Turkish border, some of which are sold to local dealers. In Syria, government soldiers exchange weapons with rebels for personal security. The border areas of Idlib and Aleppo have become the country’s biggest black market centers.

The UK-based Conflict Armament Research (CAR) group has been working with the Kurdistan Region Security Council in Iraq to track ISIS munitions by recovering ammunitions and explosives from abandoned battlegrounds. The organizations have jointly traced the origins of about 1775 bullet cartridges captured during the Islamic State’s battles with Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria this past July and August. They have also traced the origins of the many materials ISIS collects to build bombs.

The sample of bullet cartridges originate from about 21 different countries, the top five manufacturers being China, Soviet Union, U.S., Russia, and Serbia, in order of frequency. Cartridges manufactured from 2010-2014 mainly come from Bulgaria, China, and Turkey (in order of frequency).

The ammunition discovered in Syria primarily originate from China and Russia, including Soviet-manufactured ammunition. The cartridges found in Iraq are of primarily U.S. origin, making up about 20% of the discovered ammunition, and date back to the 2000’s. They are thought to have been acquired by ISIS through seizure of stocks belonging to the Iraqi defense and security forces. The U.S. cartridges found in Iraq were used in M16 and M4 assault rifles by the Iraqi defense and security forces.

The materials for making bombs cover a wide range of recycled objects, such as cell phones, garage door-openers, and laptops, come from many different locations. The chemicals used to make bombs are abundant in commercial mining and agricultural products, such as fertilizer, making it easy to disguise trade in bomb-making materials. According to CAR’s findings, Turkish companies sell demolition and mining materials to clients who transfer them to ISIS. This makes it challenging to halt the supply chain of bombs to ISIS.

Arms traded in the black market have also been traced back to terrorist attacks in Western Europe.
One of the guns used in the recent Paris attacks in the November 13, 2015 was traced back to an export from a Serbian factory reaching the U.S. in 2013. Milojko Brzakovic is the head of a Serbian arms factory which manufactured the M92 semi-automatic pistol, claiming that the serial number of the one used in Paris matches that of the one his factory exported to the U.S. This is only one of seven weapons used in the attacks that originate from the factory. However, it is unclear how the weapon traveled from the U.S. to France.

The Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris was carried out using military-class arms which are illegal in France, including AK-47s and a rocket launcher. Anti-tank rocket launchers were manufactured in former Yugoslavia, and are suspected to have been procured by ISIS militants from Syrian rebels. The weapons were allegedly traded in Belgium – a country known to have an active black market for illegally procuring arms.

The black arms market in Belgium is linked to domestic crime as well as jihadi terrorist attacks, where many of the traded weapons originate from the Balkans. Illegal arms trade from the Balkans to Belgium began in the 1990’s during the Balkan wars. The country’s loose gun laws make illegal small arms trading very feasible. The terrorist who threatened a Paris-bound train from Amsterdam boarded the train in Brussels, and is thought to have acquired his weapons there although he claimed to find his Kalashnikov rifle in a suitcase by chance. After the Charlie Hebdo attacks, an arms trafficker named Metin Karasular confessed to facilitating a car purchase for the girlfriend of Amedy Coulibaly – one of the militants in the assault.

Arms brokers are also key agents in small arms smuggling. They make use of pipelines paved by governments facilitating informal arms deals during the Cold War. They rely on counterfeit documents and gaps in regulation in the aircraft and freighting industry to close deals. Online deals are the newest way these arms brokers reach a global market.

According to the 2014 Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)’s list of the top 100 arms producing companies (excluding China), the worldwide weapons manufacturing industry is valued at $400 billion. 6 of the 9 most powerful companies are located in the U.S. U.S. companies Lockheed Martin and Boeing dominate the top 2 ranks at $35.49 billion and $30.70 billion in arms sales, respectively. Lockheed Martin has increasingly sold anti-ballistic missile systems to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE in the past year. The region’s high demand for weapons can be attributed to increasing regional instability and perceived threats from Iran.
Arms imports by the Middle East increased by 25% from 2005-2009 to 2010-2014. The top importers in this region were Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Turkey. 47% of the Middle East imports were supplied by the U.S. – primarily to Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The U.S. has strategically increased its supply of fighter weapons to its coalition fighting ISIS. The Pentagon also announced this past month that it has approved a $1.29 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia. This includes over 10,000 bombs, munitions, and weapons produced by Boeing and Raytheon. Critics warn of potential negative implications this could have on the country’s atrocities and war crimes in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia is aiding the fight against Iran-backed Houthi rebels – with serious implications for civilians in the region.

Other countries in internal conflict receiving weapons from the U.S. include Egypt, which received weapons in 2014 purportedly to assist rebels in the Sinai. From 2003-2013, Iraq imported over 10,000 armored vehicles from the U.S. The U.S. also sent 250 armored personnel carriers to Iraq in response to threats from ISIS. Meanwhile, Russia and Iran provide weapons to the government of Syria.

The U.S. does not prohibit countries committing human rights abuses from purchasing its arms. Only the Leahy Law, passed in 1997, prohibits U.S. military assistance to military and police units determined responsible for human rights abuses. The Law only restricts government-to-government transfers overseen by the Defense Department, and not the commercial sales approved by the State Department. In 2011, a provision passed by Congress required legislative approval for sale of crowd-control material to Middle East countries facing democratic unrest. However, there is no law restricting arms exports only to countries deemed adequate in humanitarian treatment of its citizens according to the State Departments annual human rights assessments.
Saudi Arabia and Turkey are part of the U.S.’s coalition to fight ISIS, but are known to commit human rights abuses. U.S. foreign policy implicitly backs Saudi Arabia and Turkey in its efforts to support Sunni rebels against their tyrannical Shiite leaders in Syria, Iraq, and Iran. This objective overlaps, as we know, with ISIS’s efforts to control regions in Syria and Iraq using Sunni support, and there is always a possibility of U.S-armed rebels defecting to ISIS. We cannot even be sure of Saudi Arabia and Turkey’s commitments to defeating ISIS. Saudi Arabia is primarily importing weapons and ammunition to fight Shiite rebel groups in Yemen, and Turkey is focused on defeating and containing Kurdish rebel groups. Turkey and Qatar are suspected of directly supporting ISIS rebel groups, although both governments explicitly deny it.

Thus, ironically, ISIS is procuring its weapons from the very forces fighting it. These weapons are manufactured primarily by the superpowers, sold to the regional governments as well as private contractors in the Middle East, and traded in the black markets from where ISIS can easily procure them. ISIS’s stronger enemies already face the challenge of disrupting their intricate supply network; they might have to reevaluate how their diplomatic strategies contribute to it.