DU Professor Zia sued over controversial remarks on ‘salam’

A case has been filed against Zia Rahman, a professor in the Department of Criminology at Dhaka University, for calling 'Assalamu Alaikum' and 'Allah Hafez' a practice of militancy.

The case was filed in the court of Judge Assam Jaglul Hossain under the Digital Security Act on Sunday morning.

Muhammad Mahbub Alam, editor of the monthly Al Bayyinat and the Daily Al Ihsan, filed the case with the Bangladesh Cyber Tribunal.

According to the case statement, Professor Zia labelled saying 'Assalamu Alaikum' and saying 'Allah Hafez' as abhorrent, reprehensible and disgusting. He associated all this with militancy.

Recently, in a talk show called 'Uposhonghar' (Conclusion) on DBC News television channel, in a discussion on 'Militarism in the Misinterpretation of Religion', Professor Zia Rahman described saying 'Assalamu Alaikum' and 'Allah Hafez' in pure Arabic pronunciation as disgusting.

The issue was widely criticised on social media. On October 22, Supreme Court lawyer Muhammad Sheikh Omar Sharif sent a legal notice to Professor Zia on behalf of Muhammad Mahbub Alam. At the same time, he was asked to withdraw his statement and apologise.