Nazimuddin was a Bangladeshi law student pursuing a master’s degree in Dhaka. Apart from his studies, he was also a prolific blogger who often wrote in staunch defense of atheism, secularism, and women’s and minority rights. He vocally opposed religious extremism and political Islam.

In 2016, these writings attracted retaliation from the forces he spoke against: on an April evening, on his way home, he was accosted by machete-wielding attackers and hacked to death.

“He was on his way back home from his evening classes when he was circled by a group of three to four people. First the attackers hacked Samad with machetes, then shot him.” - Nurul Amin, Senior Assistant Police Commissioner in Dhaka

Before his murder, Nazimuddin’s name had appeared on an Islamist hit list along with many other Bangladeshi bloggers who have fallen victim to assault and murder. The previous year, in the midst of an especially severe surge of murders similar to the one he would ultimately suffer, Nazimuddin had even gone into hiding because he feared for his life. His attackers shouted “Allahu Akbar” as they killed him, and responsibility for the crime was claimed by al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent.

“Please let’s have Sharia Law for just five years in Bangladesh ... I guarantee you, after this 5 years, no Muslim of Bangladesh will ask for Islamic law! The loss and damage we will have after five years, it will take 1400 years to restore us to a modern country.” - Nazimuddin Samad 

The killing triggered protests from fellow Bangladeshi students, as well as condemnation from international human rights organizations.