NEW DELHI — The Bangladeshi branch of Al Qaeda claimed responsibility Tuesday for the killing of a gay rights activist and his friend, undermining the prime minister’s insistence just hours earlier that her political opponents were to blame for the attack and for a rising tide of violence against secular activists and writers.
The claim by Ansar-al Islam — which said it targeted the two men on Monday night because they were ‘‘pioneers of practicing and promoting homosexuality’’ — raised doubts about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s repeated assurances that authorities have the security situation under control.
The victims of the attack were identified as Xulhaz Mannan, an activist who also worked for the US Agency for International Development, and his friend, theater actor Tanay Majumder. Mannan, a cousin of former foreign minister Dipu Moni of the governing party, was also an editor of Bangladesh’s first gay rights magazine, Roopbaan. Majumder sometimes helped with the publishing, local media said.
At the White House, press secretary Josh Earnest took note of Mannan’s advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender causes and said there were ‘‘reports that indicate that he was targeted because of his advocacy for these human rights and that makes his death even more tragic than it seems.’’ He said the US government had been in touch with the government of Bangladesh to make clear that a thorough criminal investigation should be a priority.
Just hours before the claim of responsibility, the prime minister had pointed the finger at her political opponents, the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami group and its ally, the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
‘‘Everybody knows who are behind these killings,’’ Hasina told policy makers in her secular Awami League party Monday night, repeating her government’s allegation that the opposition was orchestrating the attacks to destabilize the country.
The opposition said that they are being scapegoated for Hasina’s failure to maintain security and placate the country’s desire for Islamic rule.
Associated Press
