By Syed Zain Al-Mahmood
DHAKA, Bangladesh--Police in Bangladesh detained 20 people over
the weekend after the killing of a university professor was linked
to what is possibly a previously unknown Islamic militant
group.
Shafiul Islam, who taught sociology at the University of
Rajshahi in northern Bangladesh, was fatally stabbed Saturday
afternoon near his home on a campus where political feuds have
turned violent in the past, police said.
"We're pursuing every possibility, including the involvement of
a militant group," said Mahbubur Rahman, the local police
chief.
He said the people detained were held for questioning. They
remain in custody, and no one has been charged.
The police chief said no direct link to the killing has yet been
established. The police haven't released details of those
detained.
Speculation centered on the role of radical Islamists after
someone set up a Facebook page shortly after the killing for "Ansar
al-Islam Bangladesh-2."
A post on the page said: "Our fighters struck down an apostate
in Rajshahi today, a man who banned the burqa from his class and
department." The post referenced a 2010 newspaper article that said
the professor had attempted to ban the burqa, an outer garment worn
by some Muslim women.
A professor at the university said Prof. Islam had opposed the
niqab -- or face veil -- but hadn't banned students who wore the
burqa.
Munirul Islam, a senior police detective, said law-enforcement
agencies weren't aware of any militant group by that name. "It
could be a splinter group of an existing militant organization or
it could be something else," he said.
Mr. Islam, no relation to the professor, said there was an
emerging pattern of Facebook pages being opened to claim
responsibility after killings in Bangladesh.
Those pages, apparently created with the purpose of claiming
responsibility on behalf of a militant group, were usually closed
soon afterward, he said.
Some security analysts said it was unclear why a militant group
would attack Prof. Islam more than four years after his alleged
stance on burqas. He was returning home alone when he was attacked,
police said.
A statement from the university called on the police to catch
the killers and ensure security for teachers and students.
The university has seen a series of killings in recent years
amid fighting by student wings of rival political parties. Clashes
between students' groups that try to use the campus as a hub of
political activity are common and frequently turn bloody.
In 2006, Abu Taher, a professor of geology, was killed at his
home on campus. A court sentenced one of the victim's colleagues
along with three others to death in connection with the
killing.
Militant attacks are rare in Bangladesh, the world's
third-largest Muslim-majority nation.
After a spate of bomb attacks in 2005 by outlawed Islamic group
Jamatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, its leaders were hanged by the
government of then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.
Islam has been at the center of political tensions in recent
years, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League accusing
the opposition of supporting extremist groups.
The opposition led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, says the
government's persecution of mainstream Islamist parties risks
fostering extremism.
Write to Syed Zain Al-Mahmood at zain.al-mahmood@wsj.com
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