Bangladeshis protest 'gruesome attacks' on writers, publishers

Hundreds of demonstrators have held fresh protest rallies over a string of 'gruesome attacks on publishers and writers in Bangladesh', saying the government's 'inaction' is to blame for ongoing violence across the South Asian country.

In the third day of protests on Monday, angry protesters, including writers, publishers and bookshop owners, took to the streets of the capital, Dhaka, to express their anger against the fatal attacks with publishers burning books at the rally.

Scores of shop owners, publishers, authors and bloggers formed a human chain wearing black badges on the streets of the capital, commemorating their slain fellows.  

They denounced 'government inaction' over recent attacks, including the machete murder on Saturday of a publisher of secular books. 

Similar massive protest rallies were also held in other cities and towns across Bangladesh to demand more protection for publishers. 

The protests come after a gang of men carrying machetes and cleavers hacked to death Faisal Arefin Dipan, a publisher of secular books, at his office in Dhaka on Saturday. 

Two bloggers along with publisher Ahmedur Rashid Tutul were also wounded in a separate assault in the capital on Saturday. 

The militant group al-Qaeda in the Indian Sub-Continent, or AQIS, has claimed responsibility for the attacks

Meanwhile, Bangladesh bookshop owners countrywide kept the shutters of their shops closed protesting the murder of their fellows in recent months. 

Reacting to the violent incidents, Mustafa Selim, head of the Bangladesh Creative Publishers Society, said on Monday that the killings should not be viewed as an isolated incident. “This is not an isolated incident. They first started killing authors, then the bloggers and now they’ve targeted the publishers.” 

Farid Ahmed, a publisher who received a death threat in a text message on Sunday, said that the ongoing bloodshed and violence must end. 

"The murderers should be caught as soon as possible. There must be an end to this nightmare," AFP quoted Ahmed as saying. 

The first such incident in Bangladesh occurred back in February, when blogger Avijit Roy was killed while walking home from a book fair. 

Militant groups have targeted Muslims, Hindus and Christians in Bangladesh over the past two years.

In late October, a bomb attack rocked Hussaini Dalan, the most important prayer and congregation site for Bangladesh’s minority Shia community in Dhaka. The incident left at least one person dead and dozens of others injured.

The deadly bombing came just weeks after an Italian aid worker and a Japanese farmer were shot dead in Bangladesh.

The attacks were both claimed by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group

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