Barrage of death threats puts RU teachers at unease

The last one year was a period when Rajshahi University faced an unsettling menace -- 40 of its teachers received death threats over the phone or in letters. Among them were the vice chancellor and several department heads.

Though more than half of them have filed general diaries (GDs), no visible action has been taken by police yet. In most cases, the callers or senders of the letters are yet to be traced, according to the proctor's office.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

Some of the teachers, who started receiving the threats in March last year, believe that militant outfits are doing this so they stop speaking up against religious fundamentalism.

Prof Muhammad Mizanuddin, the vice chancellor; Prof Azizul Haque, chairman of the Department of Islamic History and Culture, and Prof Abul Kashem, chairman of the Department of International Relations, received the death threats, among others, in letters on different dates.

The VC got one on November 30, and filed a GD the next day.

The letter reads, "Alhamdulliah… we've launched our activities in Rajshahi sub-chapter of Bangladesh branch. As part of it, we've made a brief list of the worst enemies of Allah, Rasul and Muslims in Rajshahi region. Each will be killed to establish dwin (religion) of Allah and Rasul."

The letterhead cites the name of Ansar Al Islam Al-Qaeda Indian Sub-Continent, while the footer gives the senders' names as Mufti Abdullah Ashraf, chief of Ansar Al Islam, and Habibur Rahman, professor of Rajshahi College, local chief commander, Rajshahi region, Ansar Al Islam.

Identical letters were sent to the other teachers.

The Rajshahi College teacher said his name might have been put in the letter to tarnish his image, but he did not know they would do that.

Commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) Muhammad Shamsuddin said they did not find the professor's involvement in any such activity.

About Ansar Al Islam, he said they suspected that terrorist outfits like Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Hijb-ut Tahrir were running the organisation, which had no link to Al-Qaeda.

Besides death threats, unidentified callers demanded money from several other teachers including acting registrar Prof Entazul Hauqe and RU central library administrator Prof Safiqunnabi Samadi.

Proctor Tarikul Hasan told The Daily Star that the death threats were coming continuously due to inaction of the law enforcers.

RMP Deputy Commissioner Nahidul Islam, however, denied the allegation, saying they were giving "highest importance" to the issue.

Preferring anonymity, a senior professor of RU said, "We didn't find any consistency between police's claim and action."

"Police should at least find out how many terrorist outfits are operating in Rajshahi," said economics professor Elias Hossain, who was threatened by an unknown caller on February 1 this year. "We are always scared of attacks."

A man, identifying himself as a member of "Jonojuddha Commander", demanded Tk 5 lakh from Prof Safiqunnabi over the phone on July 10.

Two professors received death threats by phone on March 6 last year. A day later, a caller, identifying himself as a "Chorompanthi Group" member, threatened to kill Prof Sharmin Hamid of psychology and Prof AKM Golam Malek.

On March 1 last year, Prof Entazul and Prof Azizul received threats from people claiming to be members of Purbo Banglar Communist Party.

"I think police did not investigate any of the threats," said Prof Shafiqunnabi. "Even they haven't taken any security measures for us yet."

Officer-in-Charge of Motihar Police Station Humayun Kabir, however, said they had "strengthened security" for the teachers and remained vigilant for their protection.

The callers are yet to be traced as they are using "satellite phones", he said, adding police would work with Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) on the issue.

Seeking anonymity, a high official of RMP said they had investigated only two or three cases, including that of the VC.

RMP Deputy Commissioner Nahidul Islam said they had primarily found three RU teachers' link to two threats but he did not disclose their names for the sake of the investigation.