The now banned terrorist group, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) has composed a fresh hit list and unleashed it onto the internet listing the names of kill bloggers, writers and supporters of the ‘no imperialism’ movement it intends to kill. This new hit list features the name of one Rafida Ahmed Bonna, wife of writer and blogger DR. Abhijit Rai who was recently murdered by extremists. Along with the hit list, the group have also demanded that the Prime Minister strip bloggers off of their Bangladeshi citizenship. There have been many reports regarding this incident on social media.
Till today the ABT had restricted their sights to Bangladeshi bloggers, writers and important media and cultural personalities. However in the newly concocted one, they have threatened to kill 9 British citizens of Bengali descent, 7 Germans, 2 American, 1 Canadian and 1 Swedish citizen. There are some with dual citizenships, whose names have been plastered on to this new kill list.
There was a report published along with the hit list where the group demanded that free thinking bloggers be stripped off of their Bangladeshi citizenship. The report quotes, “These enemies of Islam, non-believers and atheists, these pimps of India must have their Bangladeshi citizenship stripped off of them. If that is not done, we shall kill every last one of the, wherever we can find them in Allah’s world”.
There are still some doubts lingering over the origin of this hit list and the attached report it came with. But there are suspicions that it may have surfaced from extremists residing in the UK or in other Western countries. Asked about his reaction on being one of the names engraved on to the new kill-list, blogger Russell had this to say, “On one side we have the Awami League wreaking havoc and anarchy into Bangladesh, and on the other we have these extreme fundamentalists who wish to keep us suppressed from the path of freedom and right to speech. They have taken us for granted. Despite living in England, I live in constant fear about the state of my mother and father in Bangladesh.”
But bloggers hailing from the UK who have been named in this list, have already notified London and British police of these new developments. They have been asked by the country’s administration to investigate whether or not the Ansarullah Bangla Team is capable of conducting assaults on foreign soil, alongside warning them to be on their toes at all times.
But bloggers and writers have told the Guardian that they still fully intend to continue the practice of free thought, despite these threats from extremists
