Jamaat backs Islamist groups Sunday strike demanding Siddique’s arrest

Jamaat-e-Islami has lent its support to Sunday's countrywide general strike demanding arrest of former minister Abdul Latif Siddique for his anti-Hajj remarks.

In a media statement on Saturday, the party claimed the people of Bangladesh endorsed the strike called by several Islamist groups.

Siddique on Sept 28 told a New York programme that he was averse to Hajj, Tabligh and Jamaat.

His anti-Hajj remark kicked off a wave of protests on the social media with many calling for his arrest and prosecution.

He was dropped from the Cabinet and the ruling Awami League, which initially sacked him from its policymaking Presidium, subsequently cancelled his party membership.

A group of Islamist organisations demanded his arrest by Oct 22. On Wednesday, they called for Sunday's strike as their deadline lapsed.

Siddique, implicated in a number of cases and facing arrest for hurting religious sentiments, has not returned home.

Jamaat's acting chief Mujibur Rahman said they had extended 'moral support' to Sunday's strike.

"The people of this country are united in their demand for anti-Islam Siddique's arrest," he said in the statement issued in Bangla. "They want his exemplary punishment."