Bangladesh has not yet turned into a country of religious fanatics and secularism does not mean "anti-religion", Haque said at a meeting in remembrance of poet Shamsur Rahman at the Rajshahi Metropolitan Press Club yesterday.

Prof Haque criticised the government for recognising the Qawami madrasa degrees terming it "a communal step that demeans the constitution".

"The state and religion are separate things. The fusion of religion with the mainstream national education and state system can never be accepted. It will be very dangerous for countrymen irrespective of religion," he said.

Activists of Shibir, student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, threatened Prof Haque on Thursday with death for his speech in favour of secularism. They told Haque that he will have to depart the world like Prof Humayun Azad or leave the country like Taslima Nasrin.

Haque termed the Shibir threat "a conspiracy" of the reactionary forces against free thought. He said his speech was on education, state and secularism, not on religion.

Other speakers at the meeting also strongly condemned the Shibir threat on Prof Haque's life, saying the fundamental anti-liberation forces actually threatened the entire community of progressive thinkers.

The meeting also discussed the life and works of poet Shamsur Rahman.

Describing poet Rahman as "an icon of Bangla literature", Hasan Azizul Haque said, "Shamsur Rahman's love for the rural utopia and independence of the country will lead us."

The other speakers criticised the government for not arranging proper treatment for the poet.

Poets Zulfikar Matin and Anik Mahmud, Gono Khabor Editor Mahtab Uddin, freedom fighter Abul Bashar, columnist Shafiqul Islam, Rajshahi Rakkha Sangram Parishad Convenor Jamat Khan, journalists Mustafizur Rahman Khan Alam and Rafiq Alam addressed the meeting presided over by Shafiqul Islam, acting president of Rajshahi Metropolitan Press Club.