The murder of Xulhaz Mannan and Mahbub Tonoy
They founded Bangladesh's first queer magazine. For that, Xulhaz Mannan and Mahbub Tonoy were murdered.
On 25 April 2016, several men gained access to an apartment building in Dhaka's Kalabagan neighbourhood. They posed as delivery men. They were armed with machetes and firearms. When they disappeared again, two people were dead: Xulhaz Mannan and his friend Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy.
Mannan, thirty-five, worked for the US development agency USAID. Tonoy was a theatre maker and taught children. Two years earlier, they had together founded "Roopbaan", Bangladesh's first magazine for lesbians, gay men and other queer people. There was also the "Rainbow Rally", a colourful procession at the Bengali New Year festival.
That was brave in a country where same-sex sex can be punished with life imprisonment. In April 2016, police arrested several men who wanted to take part in the procession. The rally was cancelled. Mannan had been receiving threats for some time. A good ten days later, the murderers came.
The crime was part of a series of attacks on secular bloggers, publishers and academics. It was carried out by Ansar al-Islam, a banned group with links to al-Qaeda. For the young queer movement, it was a devastating blow. An exiled journalist later said the perpetrators had practically wiped it out.
Five years later, an anti-terrorism court in Dhaka sentenced six men to death; two were acquitted. The judge stated that the two had been killed because they had publicly campaigned for the rights of homosexuals. Human Rights Watch called for more protection for queer people but rejected the death penalty.
A friend of the two, who now lives abroad, found little comfort. After the verdict, the prosecutor had stressed that homosexuality remained illegal in Bangladesh. That made Xulhaz and Tonoy look almost like criminals. The ban remains in force today.