HC releases full text of verdict

The High Court yesterday released the full text of its judgment on blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider's murder, with observations regarding the roles of the state, imams and parents for preventing youths from getting involved in militancy.

The HC released the 163-page verdict after Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim and Justice Md Jahangir Hossain signed it yesterday.

“Children can be prevented from heading down the wrong path only by getting them involved in good environment and also family atmosphere. [I] 'Children whose fathers embrace parenthood are less likely to be troubled as they approach their teens,' UK based researchers said,” the HC observed.

It further said, “An Oxford University study finds that [II] 'fathers who were emotionally committed and felt confident about parenthood in the first few months had better-behaved children 11 years later'. The amount of time the father spent with the child or got involved in domestic chores was not as significant as these two factors.” 

The verdict also mentioned the responsibilities of the state including ensuring the proper environment, provision of proper education and politics, lesser growth of population, awareness of accurate historical background of independence of the country and religious harmony with proper knowledge. 

On April 2, the HC judges upheld the death penalty of two convicts, life imprisonment for one and various jail terms for five others involved in the murder. 

The condemned convicts are: Redwanul Azad Rana and Faisal Bin Nayem alias Dweep.

Among the jailed convicts, Mufti Jasimuddin Rahmani, chief of banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment as he was found guilty of provoking Rajib's murder with his sermons.

Maksudul Hasan alias Anik was given life term imprisonment. Four other convicts -- Ehsan Reza Rumman, Nafis Imtiaz, Nayem Sikdar Irad and Sadman Yasir Mahmud -- had been sentenced to different jail terms.

Apart from Jasimuddin, all the seven convicts were students of North South University in 2013.

In the verdict, the HC said, “An Imam of a mosque is being deployed to hold saying the prayer perfectly and his obligation is only to give real knowledge of Islam and Prophet Mohammad [S]. Muslims always think that Imam is a religiously gentleman perfect and his actions and activities are believed to have been gathered in the mind of Muslims. When the prayer is held in mosque under his leadership, other musullee [devotees] have all confidence in his conduct”.

“More so, he is no doubt a man of civil society and law abiding citizen of the country. He has to obey the law, binding upon him as one of the citizens of the country and cannot deliver any speech which is contrary to the laws of the land and none should take the law in his own hand and nobody should make derogatory comments about any religion. If anyone criticizes or makes defaming comments on Islam or Prophet Mohammad [S], he must be brought into book and punished if proved, as per law of the land but no one has right to say by giving special exciting statements or speeches that those who make comments abruptly on any belief to be punished without putting them on trial”.

It also said, “It is very unfortunate for the society as a whole that meritorious students like the present convicts of the case have gone to the dogs for the reasons unknown”.

Rajib, who was an activist in the Shahbagh movement and used to write against Jamaat-Shibir and war criminals on different blogs under the pseudonym Thaba Baba, was hacked to death near his Mirpur home on February 15, 2013.