The Eternal Regret of Ananta

I do not how else to preface the following other than to sa just read it.  Thank you to Matthew Facciani for sharing.

This is a piece written by Farid Ahmed, a friend of murdered secular blogger Ananta Bijoy Das. Ahmed is the current moderator of Avijit Roy’s Mukto-Mona website. The following is a harrowing account of how dangerous it is to simply write about secular issues in Bangladesh. More people need to learn what life can be like for these brave writers. We need to put pressure on the Bangladeshi government to protect all of their people and end these horrific events. So please consider sharing Ahmed’s article here and especially sharing the petition below to protect Bangladeshi bloggers. This article was translated from Bangla to English by Riasat Ahsan.
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Just a month and a half ago, when the founder of the Mukto-Mona blog, popular science author, and rationalist Avijit Roy was savagely hacked to death with machetes on his way back from a book fair, Ananta Bijoy Das felt grief accompanied by a chill of fear running down his spine. It wasn’t just him; all the Bangladeshi rationalist writers felt uneasiness. Then, just one month later when Washiqur Rahman Babu was also attacked in the middle of the day, in front of scores of people and murdered in the same brutal manner, the fear turned into intense panic. The panic caused many to stop writing or hide behind pseudonyms, and some to lose enthusiasm and only make irregular appearances in the world of writing.

Ananta was no exception. He was also gripped by panic following the murders of Avijit Roy and Washiqur Rahman. He knew that he was unsafe during this turbulent time of hostilities. He maintained a low profile and covered his tracks as best as he could and started living a kind of “life on the run.”  Such a life, however, is not for a normal human being. One cannot remain healthy with the constant anxiety and fear of malicious attacks and an untimely death. Therefore, like many others, Ananta was attempting to go abroad as soon as possible. Doing so would mean leaving behind his beloved country, his dearest parents, and his brothers and sisters. Even so, at least he would be able to heave a sigh of relief, and live his life in freedom.  This was the motivation behind his resolve to leave the country. He wrote to many places and asked several people to write recommendation letters for him to aid his departure. I was one of them.

The Eternal Regret of Ananta