Top secular writer stabbed in Bangladesh

DHAKA: A Bangladeshi professor and secular writer was on today stabbed in his head and neck by an unidentified assailant during an event at a university here, police said.
Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, an outspoken opponent of militancy and communalism, has suffered head injuries in the attack which took place at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet, bdnews24 reported.

The attacker was nabbed and handed over to the police, Shahjalal University Public Administration Department Assistant Professor Md Mahmud Hasan said.

The motive behind the attack was not immediately known, police said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina 'strongly' condemned the attack on Iqbal and ordered officials to take quick action to bring the assailants to justice.

Iqbal, a professor of the university, was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was able to speak despite bleeding profusely, the report said.

The attack took place during a festival organised by the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department where he was the chief guest.

The attacker struck from behind and stabbed him in the head, the report said.

"Things are heated. The students are causing vandalism. Police are working to bring the situation under control," Jalalabad Police Station officer-in-charge Shafiqul Islam Swapan said.

Iqbal, a renowned science fiction writer, had recently criticised ragging on campus and said that five students punished for ragging had gotten off easy and should have been handed over to police, the report said.

Some students believe that militants may have been responsible for the attack.

Iqbal has been given police protection for security reasons since 2015, when militants threatened to kill him.

There were six to seven policemen guarding him when the attack took place, the report said.

Bangladesh, in the last couple of years, has seen a spate of gruesome attacks on secular activists, religious minorities, bloggers and foreigners, many of whom have been hacked to death with machetes.