The special tribunal that has pronounced judgment on two persons for wounding Prof Muhammed Zafar Iqbal in a near fatal attack four years ago has observed that the noted academic and writer is vocal only against religious fanaticism and superstition.
"Prof Zafar Iqbal is in favour of the consciousness and spirit of the Liberation War," said Judge Nurul Amin Biplob of the Sylhet Anti-Terrorism Tribunal on Tuesday.
Some vested quarters have been inciting militant behaviour and spreading extremist ideologies among youths in the virtual world by tempting them with ideas of easy trips to paradise, said the judge, asking the law enforcers to beef up their monitoring activities.
The youth who got life in prison had stabbed Prof Zafar Iqbal repeatedly with a knife with an intent to kill the former professor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (Sust) during an open event on the campus.
Convict Faizul Hasan Mufti, at the time a madrasa student, said that he was inspired by Jashim Uddin Rahmani's jihadi lectures, various books, audio, and video clips.
Rahmani has been behind bars in multiple cases filed over fatal attacks by the banned militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team since 2013.
Also Read - Zafar Iqbal murder attempt: One gets life in prison, another gets four years
The judge said that Faizul made imaginary allegations against a book written by Prof Zafar Iqbal and so planned to kill him.
He carried out the barbaric attack without any understanding of the true meaning of Islam, considering it an act of virtue to kill an innocent person. "His act is undoubtedly an instance of terrorist behaviour.”
The tribunal also said that the law enforcement agencies must take stronger and more effective measures to stop the flow of misinformation by identifying cyber-extremist sites and groups that promote terrorism.
Faizul's friend Shohag Mia was given four years in prison for supplying extremist materials.
Faizul and Shohag were also fined Tk20,000 and Tk5,000, respectively.
The court acquitted Faizul's father Maulana Atiqur Rahman, mother Minara Begum, brother Enamul Hasan and maternal uncle Md Fazlur Rahman as the charges against them were not proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
The eminent academic-cum-writer came under attack on March 3, 2018 while attending a program on the open stage of Sust. Attacker Faizul Hasan was nabbed by the students and teachers of the university.
Zafar Iqbal was first taken to Osmani Medical College Hospital and later to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) by air ambulance on the instructions of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Muhammad Ishfaqul Hossain, then registrar of Sust, filed the case with Jalalabad police station. The trial of the accused began on October 4, 2018. Police filed the charge sheet on July 26 the same year.