Celebrated Bangladeshi Tech-Entrepreneur Receives Death Threats From Islamists For Supporting Homosexuality

Well-known Bangladeshi tech-entrepreneur, who runs the country’s biggest online educational platform, has received death threats from Islamists for expressing solidarity with sexual minorities.

Ayman Sadiq founded and runs the hugely popular 10 Minute School that provides online coaching for free to nearly 5 lakh students from Class I to Class XII every day.

He had reportedly posted a comment last week in support of a former employee, who had proclaimed himself a homosexual on social media. That person now lives in another country and is not a Muslim.

Immediately after that, Sadiq started receiving threats. Some of those threats were direct death threats, while others called on Bangladeshis to boycott the 10 Minute School.

Sadiq is a recipient of many international awards including the Queen’s Young Leaders Award in 2018, and his e-learning platform is supported by the Bangladesh government and some of the biggest corporates.

The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police has started an investigation into the death threats. Police believe the death threats could have been issued by the proscribed Ansar Al Islam, a new Islamist terror group.

The police have mounted surveillance and provided protection to Sadiq and his family. Sadiq, 28, also posted a video on his Facebook timeline proclaiming himself to be a practising and devout Muslim.

But there are many who have come out in support of Sadiq. Author Taslima Nasreen tweeted in his support, as did many civil rights activists, writers, educationists, intellectuals and professionals.

But Bangladeshi authorities are worried about the death threats received by Sadiq. Many bloggers, human rights activities, writers and members of the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community have been killed in Bangladesh by Islamic radicals in recent years.

Sadiq launched the e-learning platform in May 2015 to provide good-quality education to the millions of underprivileged children in his country. Nearly 6 million Bangladeshi youth are believed to have benefitted from the ‘10 Minute School’.

The platform provides live interactive classes six days a week covering all subjects in the country’s school syllabus. It also provides life-skills education, coaching on software applications and uses, presentation skills etc.