(From AFP)
Each time he hears of the latest deadly machete attack, Ashraful Islam thinks of his father’s gruesome murder and fears his fellow Sufi Muslims will never be safe again in Bangladesh.
“The killings are not declining, they’re getting worse. And every one reminds me what happened to my father,” said the 30-year-old medical student. “I’ve no idea why they are doing this but if they aren’t stopped, then our future is doomed, we’ll become another Pakistan.”
Islamists have claimed responsibility for around 40 killings in the last three years of foreigners, secular bloggers, gay activists, Hindus and Christians. Many have been slaughtered with machetes.
But no group has suffered as much as Sufis, an offshoot of mainstream Islam whose followers are often denounced as “infidels” for their mystical traditions, including worshipping at shrines. Read More