The fundamentalists of this country would be encouraged to commit more murders following the recent comments by the prime minister's son regarding the sensitive nature of blogger Avijit Roy's killing, Prof Muhammed Zafar Iqbal has said.
Rejecting the remarks by Sheikh Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the author said the government has failed in its responsibility to protect the lives of its citizens.
“You have all noticed that the prime minister's son gave a statement saying the government or the premier could not comment on the issue [Avijit's murder] as it was very sensitive,” Zafar Iqbal told a human chain at the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology on Wednesday , which was organised to protest the killing of another blogger – Ananta Bijoy Das – in Sylhet.
“This in fact means that the fundamentalists and militants have been given a green signal to carry on their killings, with assurance that the government will not do anything in particular,” he told the programme.
“One after another will be killed, and the government will not say a single word,” the university professor said.
Earlier this week, Sajeeb Wazed Joy told news agency Reuters that his mother had offered private condolences to Avijit’s father after the blogger's murder, adding: “but the political situation in Bangladesh is too volatile for her to comment publicly.
“We [the government] are walking a fine line here ... We do not want to be seen as atheists. It does not change our core beliefs. We believe in secularism,” added Joy, also the PM's ICT affairs adviser.
Prof Zafar Iqbal termed Joy's comments unacceptable, saying that every Bangladeshi citizen has the right to live, and no murder should ever be a sensitive issue.
Addressing the students who joined the human chain, the teacher said: “Those of you who speak the truth may be killed at any moment. They [militants] will kill us at any time; after that, only a few people will stand here, say a few words, and then everybody will forget.”
He also said the police must have been given some instructions to allow a few days to pass by before taking any action regarding the murder of Ananta Bijoy Das, so that people can forget about the murder.
“I know there is a list of bloggers. You take an initiative by yourselves, find out the list, and arrange protection with your friends for those who face the risk of being killed. Do not leave them alone, stay close to them,” Zafar Iqbal told friends and families of the bloggers who are potential targets of fundamentalists.
“The government cannot protect you, you have to protect yourself; it is the reality now,” he added.
In less than three months since the killing of secular activists Avijit Roy and Oyasiqur Rahman Babu , unidentified miscreants – believed to be members of radical Islamist groups – hacked to death listed science writer Ananta Bijoy Das in Sylhet on Tuesday.
