By Shah J. Choudhury
Translated by Zahan Ara Dolon
Abhijit Roy was a man of advanced science. He was a U.S. citizen. He was a professional engineer. Twenty-two years ago, when the people of Bangladesh did not understand information technology well enough, he created a website called “Muktamana.” When smartphones did not exist and computers did not have adequate facilities for writing in Bengali, Abhijit created a platform for doing so.
Abhijit Roy was hacked to death at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair exactly eight years ago. Why was Abhijit Roy murdered? because he used to write. His works were both anti-reformation and pro-science. The primary requirement for science is evidence. The weakness of the Reformation is that it is solely based on faith. There is no need for proof. In one of his writings, Abhijit stated that this universe could have arisen from quantum fluctuations for no apparent reason… Edward Tryon published the first report on the universe that can arise from nothing in the prestigious journal “Nature” in 1973.
Quantum fluctuations are the universe’s creation from nothing. Nature despises emptiness. Energy particles and antiparticles are created in billionths of a second and destroyed by collisions in mere moments in an absolute vacuum. The duration of this event is only sqrt(10)–21 seconds. This is known as quantum fluctuation. In other words, Abhijit Roy made no new statements. He is simply advancing a scientific theory. If someone presented proof of a different theory tomorrow, quantum fluctuations would be dismissed in an instant.
However, reform is not something that would have been dismissed in an instant for any reason. Reformation survives from generation to generation only by clinging to faith. The conflict in the Reformation was not with religion but with science. And this dispute dates back to antiquity. Around 400 years ago, Giordano Bruno stated that the universe is infinite and has no center. He also claimed that the earth, not the sun, revolves around the sun. Bruno’s words contradicted the doctrine of the Christian scriptures. The Christians were furious. They burned Bruno to death in rage.
But Giordano Bruno said nothing new. He said the same thing that Nicolaus Copernicus said. Bruno only backed Copernicus. The same thing happened to Abhijit Roy. He only wrote about various scientific theories. He did not preach any doctrine himself. Nonetheless, Abhijit was killed. Science, it turns out, has come a long way, but the Reformers have remained the same for 400 years. That is not the case. Rather, it has gone back further. They also brutally murdered Faisal Arefin Dipan, Abhijit’s book publisher.
The court sentenced five people to death and one to life imprisonment in the Abhijit Roy murder case. Nevertheless, Abhijit won’t return.
Writing was in Abhijeet’s blood. He wrote books and blogs. Perhaps this is why the term “blogger” was added before his name. Though Abhijit was not alone, many other bloggers and writers associated with blogs were killed at the same time. The BBC headlined the story “Serial Blogger Murders.” Many people were killed back then. Many have fled the country to survive. It is unknown whether they have returned or not. Of course, they’ve never returned. Who will come, wishing to die?
Eight years ago, Abhijit was hacked to death with a chapati at the “Amar Ekushey” book fair; at the same time, Abhijit’s wife Banya was also hacked. She was seriously injured but survived. The date was February 26. The death anniversary of Abhijit Roy I’d like to remember Abhijit with respect and say that just as people differ, so will their thoughts. People should be free to think and speak in their own way. This is civilization. It is impolite to not tolerate dissent or to try to impose one’s own viewpoint. And killing him if he does not accept his point of view is heinous.
It appears that we are not civilized. The main way to become civilized is to educate the nation. Yesterday, President Abdul Hamid said in the sixth convocation of Jahangirnagar University that the development of the country is impossible with “certificate-based education.” Last year, at a meeting of the Bangladesh Private University Association, President Hamid urged all parties involved to ensure that education must not be limited to certificates only.
The question is, if the president of the country is dissatisfied with the education system, what system is the government or education minister repeatedly building by rearranging it in new ways?
