He was no atheist

“My father was never against any religion. He never did anything that might have disgraced Allah or the Prophet. He was engrossed in the pursuit of divine knowledge and he chose songs and meditation as the ways to get there,” this is how the son of slain Rajshahi University Professor AKM Shafiul Islam described his father.

“In his quest for a better understanding of God, he would read holy scriptures of different religions," Soumin Shahrid Javin said while pointing to the holy Quran, its Bengali and English translations, and books on other religions in his father's study at their Choddopai residence in Rajshahi.

Only a few yards off this house was the 48-year-old Shafiul, a professor of Sociology, hacked to death on November 15. Hours after the killing a group calling itself Ansar Al Islam Bangladesh-2 claimed responsibility for the murder in a post on its Facebook page, terming Shafiul an atheist.

"He was a devoted follower of [mystic bard] Lalon Shah. He was a Tagore and Nazrul enthusiast as well. He used his full potential to understand these truth-seekers," Javin went on.

“Those who killed him simply were ignorant. They call him an atheist solely because they could not grasp the path he followed to pray to God. They lacked the quality to fathom the depth of my father's devotion.

"One cannot be called an atheist for choosing a path which does not conform to those followed by a certain group of people.

"They are cowards ... There is no bravery in killing a man who was alone and helpless," said Javin, an undergraduate student of Mass Communication and Journalism at Dhaka University, as he was accompanying this correspondent on a tour of the house.

The five-room house had a number of musical instruments and stay-over arrangements for at least a dozen people. There were spaces for meditation as well.

“Like-minded people, his colleagues and students alike would gather here and sing Baul songs and discuss the Baul philosophy. Sometimes they would stay the night," Javin continued.

"My father once told me that the conventional education system is useless because people lose their taste for it and it does not give them the courage to live with truth and knowledge."

Prof Shafiul was generous to the elderly. In 2003, he was awarded at the 7th Asia/Oceania Regional Congress of Gerontology in Japan for presenting the Bangladeshi elderly in a poster. He received $4,500 and donated the whole amount to the elderly of Japan and Bangladesh. He used to help the poor followers of Lalon as well, Javin said.

He criticised the government for "failing to protect the liberal minds from the fundamentalists". “If knowledge-seekers like my father keep perishing in the hands of fundamentalists, how firm the backbone of this nation can be?”

Javin said he does not feel safe in the house anymore, and plans to move elsewhere.

"After the attack, I called on my father. He received my call but he could not talk. I heard his last cries. I would never be able to forget it,” Javin said with his voice choking and tears rolling down his cheeks.

On February 15 last year, Ahmed Rajib Haider, a blogger and activist of Shahbagh movement, was hacked to death allegedly by Islamist radicals near his house in the capital's Mirpur.

After the murder, smear campaigns were carried out both online and offline describing Rajib as an atheist.

FRESH REMAND SOUGHT FOR ARRESTEES

Police yesterday sought another seven-day remand for the 11 people arrested in connection with the gruesome murder of Prof Shafiul.

Since it was the weekend, they submitted the remand prayer at the court but the hearing on this is likely to be held tomorrow, said Alamgir Hossain, officer-in-charge of Motihar Police Station.

Earlier, the 11 were taken on a two-day remand.

"But we need to interrogate them more," said the OC.