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Published : 04 Mar 2018, 02:09 PM
“Those who commit such acts are fanatics,” she said at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka on Sunday, a day after popular science fiction writer Prof Muhammed Zafar Iqbal was attacked and injured by a man during a campus event in Sylhet.
“They believe they can gain access to heaven through murder. But they will never be able to reach heaven. Instead they will burn in the fires of hell, because no person who kills an innocent person can go to heaven,” Hasina said.
The attacker, a madrasa student named Faizur Rahman, also known as Faizul, was apprehended by teachers and students. He was later taken into RAB custody. Two of his uncles were also detained by law enforcers.
Prof Iqbal suffered injuries to the head, back and hand and is currently receiving treatment at Dhaka’s Combined Military Hospital.
Prof Iqbal, a teacher of SUST Computer Science and Engineering Department, has repeatedly voiced his loud opposition to militancy and communalism. A police detail has been assigned to protect the popular writer in October 2016 after death threats from Islamist militants. The attack on Saturday occurred despite the additional security.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
At a scholarship presentation event at the Osmani Auditorium on Sunday, Hasina said she had directed the Bangladesh air force to make arrangements to transfer Prof Zafar Iqbal to the Combined Military Hospital as soon as she heard the news of the attack.
She described the attack as ‘unpredictable’ and added that Prof Iqbal’s condition was ‘stable’ and ‘much better’.
“We have decided that no form of terrorism or militancy can be allowed to exist in Bangladesh. We are also conducting anti-drug operations.”
The prime minister urged teachers and guardians to be alert against the horrific consequences of fanaticism.
“Everyone must be aware in order to prevent our children from following such catastrophic paths.”
She called on teachers, guardians and imams to oppose drugs, terrorism and militancy vocally and keep children from such things.
Educational institutions must be aware of where their students go, who they mix with and what they do, the prime minister said.
She also asked guardians to take a tolerant approach and reduce the distance between them and their children.
The prime minister presented the Bangabandhu Fellowships, NST and special research grants to teachers, researchers, scientists and gifted students from many universities and research institutions at the event organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology on Sunday.
The prime minister stressed the importance of science education and said that students must receive the basics of this education in schools and colleges. This is why the government has made schools in every Upazila and universities in every district for higher education, she said.
“We are advancing and will continue to do so. We will develop alongside the rest of the world. We will provide all the necessary support for education.”
Minister of Science and Technology Yeafesh Osman was among the other speakers at the event.
