Chittagong court issues arrest warrants for Latif Siddique in 4 cases

Arrest warrants have been issued for Abdul Latif Siddique in four more cases in which he has been accused of 'hurting religious sentiments' in Chittagong.

The court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mashiur Rahman gave the order on Thursday.

Lawyers Kawser Parvin, Abdus Sattar, Iftekhar Mohsin and Mohammad Kaiyum filed the cases on Oct 1.

The court ordered Siddique to appear before it on Oct 23. The arrest warrants were issued as he failed to appear on Thursday.

The Tangail-4 MP drew widespread condemnation after rubbishing the practice of Hajj and Tabligh Jamaat at a programme in New York on Sept 28.

A video clip of his remarks triggered a controversy as it went viral on the internet.

“So much manpower is wasted over the Hajj. Two million people are now in Saudi Arabia for the 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.

Since then, over two dozen cases have been filed against him in different courts in several districts of Bangladesh, accusing him of hurting religious sentiments. Arrest warrants have been also issued in some the cases.

Amid the furore, the government dropped him from the Cabinet, while the Awami League expelled him from its policymaking body, Presidium.

The party also showcaused him asking why his membership will not be cancelled.

According to media reports, Siddique is now in Kolkata.