After all, the two communities lived together for centuries before the British introduced the separate electorate; Hindus exercising their vote only in favour of Hindu candidates and Muslims for the candidates of their own religion.

Rafida Ahmed Banya, the widow of Bangladeshi-American blogger Avijit Roy, urges the international community to come forward to help save the voices of Bangladeshi journalists, writers, bloggers, and publishers and help them maintain a healthy secular society.