A Sylhet court on Tuesday sentenced prime  accused Faizul Hasan to life imprisonment in a case over attempting to kill renowned writer Dr Muhammad Zafar Iqbal on Shahajalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) campus in 2018. Another accused in the case, Faizul’s friend Md Shohag Mia was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment and four others were acquitted. Those acquitted are Faizul’s father Atiqur Rahman, mother Minara Begum, brother Enamul Hasan, maternal uncle Md Fazlul Haque . Anti-Terrorism Special tribunal judge Nurul Amin handed down the judgment. Also read: Attack on Zafar Iqbal: Recording statements of witnesses ends On March 22, the court fixed Tuesday for delivering the judgment after hearing the arguments from both sides. On March 10, recording of testimonies in the sensational case was completed by recording statements of 35 of the 56 witnesses, said PP Mominur Rahman. All of them are currently in jail, he said. On March 3, 2018, Faizul swooped on Prof Zafar Iqbal and stabbed him with a knife at the SUST Mukta Mancha during a celebration programme, 'Robofight,' of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) department. Also read: Couldn’t believe a teacher got arrested for giving rational answer in class: Zafar Iqbal SUST registrar Ishfaqul Hossain filed a case with Jalalabad police the following day. On March 8, a court placed Faizul on a 10-day remand for interrogation. Later Faizul gave confessional statement before court. On July 26, police pressed charges against six people, including Faizul and Atiqur, in connection with the attack. On October 4, 2018, the trial in the case began by framing charges against the accused.

Eminent writer Dr Muhammad Zafar Iqbal said he couldn’t believe the arrest of science teacher Hriday Mondol in Munshiganj for answering a question raised in the classroom logically. The former professor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) said this in a human chain rally held in front of National Museum around 5 pm on Saturday protesting the arrest of Hriday Mondol. Demanding the release of Hriday Mondol, he said, “I couldn’t believe that a teacher has been arrested by the government for giving the most rational answer to a question of his student.” Also read: Amnesty demands immediate release of school teacher Hriday Nipironer Biruddhe Shahabag, a human rights organisation, formed the human chain protesting arrest of Hriday Chandra Mondol, a science teacher who was arrested on charges of “hurting religious sentiment” after he discussed in the classroom the distinction between religion and science Dr Zafar Iqbal said, "We have to teach our children science with utmost care for the sake of the development of our country because development is impossible without science. Science teacher Hriday Mondol has been made the scapegoat of communal people for doing his duty of teaching science."

Eminent writer Dr Muhammad Zafar Iqbal on Saturday said there is no doubt that assassinating Bangabandhu along with his family is a notorious crime but the attempt  to remove his name from history is the world's biggest crime. He referred to the dark chapter of post-1975 Bangladesh where no one could even utter the name of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.  The noted author and educationist came up with the observations while unveiling the ninth and tenth episodes of CRI-publication Mujib, a graphic novel based on the unfinished memoirs of Bangabandhu at Ekushey Book Fair.  “When I came back to Bangladesh in 1994, I observed that the name ‘Bangabandhu’ was not uttered on television. I was shocked. The man who presented this independent country was virtually eliminated from the country,” said Zafar Iqbal. Also read: Graphic Novel Mujib to be fascinating to children: Zafar Iqbal After Awami League came to power in 1996, the writer said, "I and my wife bought a television hoping that now we would be able to see Bangabandhu on television. He was shown on television indeed. Tears of joy rolled down my cheek.”