A. F. M. Rezaul Karim Siddique (or Siddiquee) (7 January 1955 – 23 April 2016) was a professor of English at

Rajshahi University The University of Rajshahi, also known as Rajshahi University or RU ( bn, রাজশাহী বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়), is a public co-educational research university in Bangladesh situated near the northern Bangladeshi cit ...

, Bangladesh. He died in an attack suspected to have been carried out by Islamist militants that has been linked by commentators to a wave of attacks on

secularists Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

in Bangladesh.

Murder

Siddique was killed on 23 April 2016 in the ShalbaganAnother RU teacher killed brutally.
''The Daily Star'', 23 April 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016. area of

Rajshahi Rajshahi ( bn, রাজশাহী, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city and a major urban, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous Rajshahi Division, division and Rajshahi District ...

when he was attacked by unidentified assailants armed with machetes while he was on his way to work. His attackers are suspected to be Islamist militants. He was 61 years old. His son, Riyasat Imtiaz Sourav, said "My father had no personal enemy".

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

claimed that it carried out the attack, however, this was denied by the Bangladeshi authorities who say that ISIL does not exist in Bangladesh.

Reaction

The students and teachers of Rajshahi University organized continuous protests to demand justice for Siddique's murder. On 2 May 2016 all the teachers from public universities across the country held a three-hour work stoppage in support of the demands.

Trial

On 8 May 2018, Justice Shirin Kabita Akhter of the Speedy Trial Tribunal in Rajshahi sentenced two to death for the murder of A. F. M. Rezaul Karim Siddique; both of them are members of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh. One of the convict, Shariful Islam, is a student of the University of Rajshahi and other convict was Maskawat Hasan. Three other accused were sentenced to life imprisonment. Shariful Islam remains a fugitive.

Biography

Siddique was born in Bagmara Upazila, Rajshahi, in 1955. He received his advanced education at Rajshahi University from where he received degrees in 1976 and 1977. Siddique lectured at Faridpur Government Rajendra College from 1981 to 1983, after which he joined the department of English at Rajshahi University. He was awarded his PhD there in 2000. Siddique was the chairman of the English department from 2001 to 2004 and became a professor in 2006. Outside the university, he founded the cultural organisations Arony Sangskritik Sangsad and Kamal Gandhar, and set up a music school at Bagmara.Bangladeshi university professor hacked to death in Rajshahi.
BBC News, 23 April 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016. He was the founding editor of the literary magazine ''Kamal Gandhar''. Siddique was married to Hosne Ara Sheera and had a son Riyasat Imtiaz Sourav and daughter Rizwana Hasin Shotovi, all of whom survived him.

References

External links