Unfortunately, another Bangladeshi atheist was murdered just this week. Atheist poet and publisher Shahzahan Bachchu was shot to death Monday in the town of Kakaldi. According to the report, “Shahzahan had gone to meet friends at a pharmacy near his home before iftar [the evening meal that ends the daily Ramada fast], when the assailants came into the area. They blasted a crude bomb outside the pharmacy, creating panic. They then dragged Shahzahan out and shot him.”

Incidents such as this are likely to continue to occur until US policymakers apply significant pressure on the Bangladeshi government and insist that it protects the religious freedom rights of Bangladeshi nontheists.