Islamist party demands Latif\\\'s punishment

Islami Andolan Bangladesh will protest over three months demanding punishment for former minister Abdul Latif Siddique for his anti-Hajj comments, reports bdnews24.com.

The party's chief Syed Mohammad Rejaul Karim announced the programmes Friday in Dhaka. The programmes include protest rallies, road marches and mass signature campaign.

Siddique lost his Cabinet berth and Awami League membership for the comments made on Sept 28. He has been accused in a number of cases in Bangladesh for hurting religious sentiments.

He is currently in prison in one of those cases pending further hearing later this month.

Islami Andolan's programmes include countrywide protest marches and rallies, a mass rally in Sylhet on Dec 12 and agitations in all thanas on Dec 25.

It also plans several road marches this month and the next. The party plans a signature campaign in February and will submit a memorandum to the President on March 18.

Earlier, the party blocked a stretch of street from Paltan to Dainik Bangla intersections shouting slogans and demanding punishment for the former minister.