Halloween is supefluous in Dhaka since the city is a kind of permanent house of horror. Instead of plastic swords and artificial blood the monsters here are equipped with sharp machetes and guns.
Saturday was another sad day when non-religious publishers and writers were attacked in a most barbaric way.
A publisher of a slain blogger was hacked to death.
Meanwhile there was a co-ordinated attack on two writers and a publisher. One of them is now in a critical condition, two others wounded.
Bangladesh prides itself as a moderate Muslim nation.
But for a non-Muslim, moderate sounds slightly exaggerated. This is a country where women are supposed to cover legs and shoulders, arranged marriages are common, alcohol is not allowed, pork is not on the menu.
Ansar al-Islam, al-Qaeda's Bangladeshi affiliate, claims to have carried out Saturday's attacks. They also warned that any writers criticizing Islam would be next in line.
Compared to the present state of the nation, these al-Quada boys would like to see a very little moderate Bangladesh.
For a newcomer, all this is both sad and frightening. Violence and terror just seem to escalate.
Freedom of speech is in real danger, too. From two fronts: the goverment which doesn't tolerate critic and the Islamic extremists who have their dark agenda.
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