Latif should have quit before being sacked, says Suranjit

Senior Awami League (AL) leader Suranjit Sengupta said Monday that Abdul Latif Siddique should have resigned from the cabinet before being sacked, reports UNB.

"He (Latif) should have resigned from the cabinet. It's unfortunate that he didn't do that," he said.

Mr Sengupta, also a member of AL advisory council, said this while addressing a discussion organised by Bangabandhu Academy at the Institution of Diploma Engineers in the city.

Mentioning that it was not an easy task to take a decision about Latif Siddique, Mr Sengupta said. The Prime Minister (PM) solved the problem with modesty and patience. "With this decision, Awami League has proved it's a secular party, not an irreligious one," he added.

At a views-exchange meeting with expatriates from Tangail in New York on September 28, Latif Siddique made disparaging remarks about the Hajj, one of the main pillars of Islam, and Tablig Jamaat.

He had said: "During Hajj, too much of manpower is wasted. Over 2.0 million people have gone to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj. They've no work, no production and they only cause deduction."

"Some 2.0 million Tablig Jamaat people get together annually who don't do any work except halting traffic movement across the country," he added.

On Sunday, Mr Siddique was first removed from the cabinet and later expelled from the AL presidium.