The #Shahbag crowd prays at blogger Rajib's janaza (funeral). Image by Mohammad Asad. Copyright Demotix (16/2/2013) As protesters continued their chants at Shahbag calling for Bangladesh's war criminals and affiliates of the Islamist party to be beheaded, one of their own Ahmed Rajib Haider, was brutally killed outside his home in capital city Dhaka on February 15, 2013. The following day, thousands gathered around his body at the site of the protests, Shahbag square, to pay their last respects. Haider blogged under the pseudonym Thaba Baba (Captain Claw) and was on the forefront of the blogger and online activist-led Shahbag protests. For years, he had been writing about war criminals and Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh. His writings and activism had even irked the Islamist party's student wing Jamaat-Shibir. Their blog Sonar Bangladesh (now blocked in Bangladesh for inciting hatred) published a series of hate-filled posts about #Shahbag's main organizers. The first feature [pdf] was on Rajib Haider. Since February 5, 2013 hundreds of thousands of people have joined the Shahbag movement to demand harsher punishment for Bangladesh's 1971 war criminals. An estimated 200,000 to 3 million people were killed by the Pakistani army and approximately 250,000 women were raped, during the 1971 liberation war. Local political and religious militia groups such as Razakar, Al Badr, and Al-Shams aided Pakistani soldiers in the killing, particularly targeting Hindus. Their members, some of whom are affiliated with the Islamist party, were living with impunity in Bangladesh for decades. Now that they are finally facing trial, Shahbag's protesters are demanding capital punishment for their crimes. Blogger Rajib Haider. Image courtesy his Facebook Page As the news of Haider's brutal death broke, social media erupted with shock and outrage. Blogger Ranadipam Basu wrote [bn]: রাজীব হায়দার, ভাই আমার, তোমার স্মৃতির ভার বইতে পারছি না আমি…! Rajib Haider, my brother, I cannot take the burden of knowing you anymore. On the following day an activist from the Shahbag movement Russel John tweeted: @EkusheyIt's a new day, everyone is here, except for Thaba Baba whom I used to call Kola Baba. You'll be missed dearly. #Shahbag Mrittumoy Ishot commented in a post on Sachalayatan: নিজের গায়ে আগুন লাগায় দিতে ইচ্ছে করছে আমার। কোন প্রগতিশীল ব্লগারকে খুন হতে দেখতে পারি না। কিছুতেই না। I feel like burning myself. I cannot stand for the killing of a progressive blogger. Never. On his personal blog Hasib writes: খুন করার জন্য থাবাবাবাকে বেছে নেবার কারণ পরিষ্কার। থাবাবাবা ধর্মবিশ্বাসের নাস্তিক ছিলেন এবং সেটা তিনি উচ্চস্বরে জানানও দিতেন। জামাতের উদ্দেশ্য এখানে এই ধর্মবিশ্বাসকে আশ্রয় করে একটা বিভক্তি টানা। তারা এই বিভক্তি তৈরী করতে সফল। It is clear why Thaba Baba was picked up and killed. He was an open atheist. The main target of the Jamaat (Islamist party) is to create division among bloggers using religion. They were successful. Fingers are being pointed at the Islamist political party Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and their student wing Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir for the killing of Rajib. Sushanta writes in Amar Blog: তবে এ পর্যন্ত যতটুকু তথ্য পেয়েছি এবং জামাত শিবিরের ব্লগ সোনার বাংলায় প্রদত্ত হিট লিস্ট এবং জামায়াত-শিবিরের অতীতের কর্মকান্ড এবং শাহবাগ-ঘটিত তাদের বিভিন্ন বক্তব্যের আলোকে ব্যক্তিগতভাবে আমার মনে কোনো সন্দেহ নেই যে এই হত্যাকান্ডের সম্ভাব্য অপরাধী জামায়াত-শিবির চক্র। So far the information I obtained from the previous actions and rhetoric of Jamaat-Shibir and the hitlist posted on the Jamaat-Shibir blog Sonar Bangladesh, I have no doubt that they are they main culprit behind this. Thousands of people paying their last respect to blogger Ahmed Rajib Haidar at Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka. Image by Firoz Ahmed. Copyright Demotix (16/2/2013) After Rajib died, many shared a link on Facebook which they thought was Rajib's blog. It contained blasphemous and hate-mongering posts. Abdullah Al Kafi analyses Rajib Haider alias Thaba Baba's alleged blog on Quantcast and says: quantcast এ গিয়ে দেখা যায় সাইটটি ফেব্রুয়ারীর ১৫ তারিখ থেকেই দেখা যাচ্ছে এর তা হোল রাজিব হত্যার দিন, অথচ সাইটটির পোস্টগুলো এক বছর আগের, নূরানি চাপা সাইটটার অস্তিত্ব ফেব্রুয়ারীর ১৫ তারিখ এর আগে ছিলই না। রাজিব হত্যার পরপরি সাইটটি রাজিব এর নামে বিকৃত কিছু পোস্ট দিয়ে অনলাইন এ ছড়িয়ে দেয়া হোল, যাতে সাধারণ মানুষ রাজিব এর লিখা পড়তে গেলে এই পোস্ট গুলো পায়। If you analyse the site in Quantcast then you will see that the blog only exists from February 15, 2013, the day Rajib died. The posts on the site was dated one year before, however the site didn't exist before February 15. Some fabricated posts were published on the date of his death and shared widely apparently to make people believe that he wrote them.