Ambassador MarciaS.Bloom Bernicat,United States Embassy, Dhaka, Bangladesh: We demand justice for Dr. Avijit Roy's Killing in Dhaka

On the evening of February 26th, Dr.Avijit Roy and his wife was brutally attacked near TSC in Dhaka as they were returning from the Ekushey Book Fair.Dr.Avijit Roy,a United States national of Bangladeshi origin,was a writer,secularist, humanist who promoted free-thinking and reasoning and was the founder of the Blog platform "Mukto Mona" which translates to "Free-Thinker". Dr. Roy who died in the attack, was constantly threatened by religious zealots who tried to silence him with death threats.These religious radicals issued threats about him visiting Bangladesh which leads us to believe that this is a pre-meditated murder.
We demand Madam Ambassador, that you forcefully take up the cause of justice in this brutal killing, and exert your influence to demand a thorough investigation and a relentless pursuit to bring the perpetrators to justice, with the highest echelons of the Bangladesh Government. Otherwise,we feel the rise of religious militancy in this harmonious country will cast a shadow far beyond its shores. Dr.Avijit Roy, who is the second blogger to be murdered in Bangladesh in as many years, devoted his life to the cause of freedom of speech, freedom of mind and freedom of thought - ideas that all are enshrined in the United States constitution. We cannot allow his death to be in vain.