Amid widespread criticism over Dhaka University (DU) Professor Md Ziaur Rahman’s comments that allegedly hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims, a panel of the university’s teachers has said the remarks were published after it went through an editing process.
In a statement issued by the DU Teachers’ Association (DUTA) on Friday, its General Secretary Md Nizamul Hoque Bhuiyan said a vested quarter was trying to create political tension by spreading the edited, incomplete, and distorted comments of the professor.
Ziaur’s original comments were made on a talk show of private television channel DBC News that was aired one-and-a-half years ago, the statement claimed, adding that the vested quarter was spreading propaganda online using the “edited” video footage.
It is unexpected that the academic observation of a professor would be misused for political purposes, reads the statement.
Also Read - DU's Prof Ziaur Rahman sued under Digital Security Act
DUTA expressed its concerns over such an “evil attempt” and condemned it.
The statement comes just five days after Ziaur was sued in two cases — both under the Digital Security Act — for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Muslims.
The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of police was tasked with probing the cases and was told to submit a report on November 1.
According to the statements of both cases, on October 22, Prof Ziaur Rahman made some hateful comments against Islam on a television talk show. He was accused of propagating anti-Islamic ideas in the two cases.
On the talk show titled "Uposhonghar" (conclusion) on DBC News, Prof Ziaur described saying "Assalamu Alaikum" and "Allah Hafez" in pure Arabic pronunciation as disgusting, reports UNB.
On October 22, Supreme Court lawyer Muhammad Sheikh Omar Sharif sent a legal notice to Prof Ziaur to withdraw his statement and apologise.
