Playing with fire: Islamism and politics in Bangladesh

Abstract

The news yesterday that an Islamic militant group in Bangladesh had published a ‘global hitlist’ of atheist bloggers follows a series of brutal activist murders over the last year and a half. Martin Griffiths and Mubashar Hasan argue that increasing influence of Islamist groups can be linked to successive governments in Bangladesh moving away from the promise of secularism that underpinned the creation of the country.