Asif Mohiuddin

“They wanted to take me to the town centre of Motijheel for a public lynching.” “They” are activists of Hefazat-e-Islam, a coalition of fundamentalist madrasas supported by the Jamaat-e-Islami party. In May 2013, a million of them gathered in the centre of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, to call for the death penalty for atheist and secular bloggers, who include the blogger Asif Mohiuddin. Big rewards were offered for anyone who would behead them. Through his articles on religious fundamentalism, education policy, religious institutions, the oppression of women and the sharia, Mohiuddin evolved from free thinker to public enemy number one. He has been stabbed by extremists and detained several times by the authorities over his “blasphemous” blog posts. His blog has been censored and he could face up to 14 years in prison. However, he has not given up the fight. In exile for the moment, he is continuing his mission to inform the public.