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Prof Mohammed Zafar Iqbal told his students not to hurt his attacker after he was stabbed at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology.
The popular author was injured in the attack, which occurred at a campus event on Saturday in the presence of a police security detail. He was stabbed four times in the head, on his left hand and his back.
Students and teachers grabbed the attacker immediately after the incident. He was severely beaten and then detained at a building on the campus. RAB took him into custody after a police and RAB interrogation.
Iqbal was immediately taken to Sylhet’s Osmani Medical College Hospital.
Tariqul Islam, a political studies department student of the university, said Iqbal was informed of his attacker’s capture by the principal of Osmani Medical College.
“We told him there was no need to worry because the attacker had been detained.”
According to Islam, Prof Iqbal hearing that the attacker had been manhandled by students said, “Do not beat him. Save him. Check if he is my student.”
After undergoing surgery Zafar Iqbal was then transferred to the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka by air ambulance. He was accompanied by his wife Prof Yasmeen Haque and SUST Vice Chancellor Prof Farid Uddin Ahmed.
In a video message on Facebook Yasmeen Haque said her husband was doing well and he requested his students to remain calm.
“Zafar Iqbal has been brought to CMH, and he told me that he is healthy and well. He asked me to tell all students to please remain calm. There is no need to worry. He is just under observation. Please pray for him and Inshallah, he will return to campus soon.”
Vice Chancellor Farid Uddin Ahmed, who was standing next to her, said: “We will all pray for his speedy recovery. He was requested everyone to ensure that there is no disorder because of this. Listen to his words and pray for him.”
Photos from the scene showed the attacker standing behind Iqbal during the event.
Neighbours identified the attacker as Faizur Rahman aka Faizul, who identified himself as a madrasa student, after his picture circulated on news media.
Rahman lived with his family in Sheikhpara, near the campus.
“During his interrogation the youth said that Zafar Iqbal is an enemy of Islam,” RAB-9 Commander Lt Col Ali Haider Azad Ahmed told the media on Saturday night. “That is why he attacked him.”
“He said he was a student at Sylhet’s Alia Madrasa. But it has not been confirmed by the madrasa administration.”
Rahman hailed from Sunamganj’s Derai Upazila. His father Atiqur Rahman is a madrasa teacher.
According to bdnews24, police have detained the attacker’s uncles Fazlur Rahman and Abdul Kaher from Sheikhpara and Sunamganj respectively.
According to Jalalabad Police Station OC Shafiqul Islam, Fazlur Rahman is the joint convener of the Sunamganj District Krishak League.
Prof Iqbal is to retire this year from the university’s Computer Science and Engineering Department. The famed writer has been a loud opponent of militancy and terrorism.
A police security detail was assigned to him in October 2016 following death threats from Islamist militants.