A Dhaka court Wednesday issued an arrest warrant against sacked minister Abdul Latif Siddique in a case accusing him of hurting religious sentiments with sacrilegious remarks as he did not appear in person.
The court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Shahriar Mahmud Adnan issued the warrant as a summons issued earlier went in vain. The summons was issued after the case was filed on October 2 by lawyer Shah Alam.
Siddique drew widespread condemnation after his comments on Hajj and Tabligh Jamaat as well as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, at a programme in New York on September 28.
As minister of posts and telecommunications and information communication technology at the time, Siddique was a member of the premier's delegation to the United Nations General Assembly.
A video clip of his utterances kicked up a storm as it went viral on the internet.
He was heard saying that he is against hajj and Tabligh Jamaat more than he is against the Jamaat-e-Islami party. He also said Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) made arrangement of hajj to 'generate income'.
'So much manpower is wasted over 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 said.
'If 100,000 people perform hajj every year on average and spend Tk 5 lakh each, then the total cost stands at Tk 500 crore,' he added.
He also castigated Joy in response to questions from journalists at the function, saying: 'Why do you often mention of Joy? Who is Joy Bhai? Joy is nobody in the government. He cannot make any decision.'
The senior Awami League leader also lambasted talk shows and the talkers: 'Those who attend talk shows are basically talk men. They jabber in front of cameras as they have nothing to do.'
Furthermore, the maverick politico behaved indecently with the journalists present at the discussion. He snubbed a journalist, saying, 'Should I talk as you wish? I am telling what I think right. Why have you come here? Who has invited you here?'
Since then, over two dozen cases have been filed against the senior Awami League leader at different courts in several districts of Bangladesh, accusing him of hurting religious sentiments.
Amid the furor, the government dropped him from the Cabinet while the ruling Awami League expelled him from the policymaking Presidium Sunday.
The party also issued show-cause notice to him Tuesday to explain why his primary party membership, too, should not be cancelled.
Now in Kolkata, Siddique told bdnews24.com Tuesday he would reply to the show-cause notice "as and when I get it and within the time limit mentioned".
