A coalition of Islamist groups has called a dawn to dusk countrywide shutdown on Sunday as their demand for arresting Abdul Latif Siddique is not met.
Published : 22 Oct 2014, 01:11 PM
The coalition, ‘Sammilito Islami Dal-Samuho’ made the announcement on Wednesday at a discussion at the National Press Club.
"On Oct 16, we had set a deadline to arrest Latif Siddique by Oct 22. Or else, we said we would go to a shutdown on Oct 26. Now we have decided on the Sunday strike in keeping with our commitments," the coalition's secretary general Md Zafar Ullah Khan told bdnews24.com after the discussion.
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.