Three more courts summon Siddique

Senior Awami League leader Abdul Latif Siddique has been sued by three more persons is two courts accusing him of hurting religious sentiments.

Two courts in Dhaka have heard the matter on Thursday and summoned the ruling MP.

President of Jananetri Parishad AB Siddiqui, advocate Shah Alam and one Nazim Uddin Badal filed separate cases against the lawmaker.

Telecoms minister Siddique have been ordered to appear before the court of Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on Oct 29 by Metropolitan Magistrate Atikur Rahman in the case filed by AB Siddiqui.

Metropolitan Magistrate Shahriar Mahmud Adnan heard the other two cases on Thursday and summoned the ruling leader.

On Wednesday, seven cases were filed against the ruling party leader on the same grounds at courts in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and Barisal. The minister was personally summoned in five of them.

Siddique drew widespread condemnation after rubbishing the practice of Hajj and Tabligh Jamaat at a programme in New York on Sunday.

A video clip of him making that statement kicked up a storm as it went viral on the Internet and touched raw nerves within his party and outside.  Not the least because a whole lot of Awami league ministers and senior bureaucrats are on Hajj now.

“So much manpower is wasted over Hajj. Two million people are now in Saudi Arabia for Hajj. They have no work or role in production. They only eat and go abroad using the country’s money,” Siddique was heard saying in the video.

He also reacted strongly to a question about Sheikh Hasina’s son and ICT Adviser Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy. “Why do you talk about Joy all the time? Who is 'Joy Bhai'?

"Joy is not in the Bangladesh government. He does not take decisions."

The Awami League has said that the Prime Minister has decided immediately to remove him from the Cabinet after his statements. He is also set to lose party membership.