Arrest Latif immediately: JP

Hitting out at the government for not arresting sacked telecoms minister and Tangail-4 lawmaker Latif Siddiqui despite having arrest warrants against him in cases filed for his rant on Holy Hajj, Jatiya Party (JP-Ershad) has questioned whether he is above the law. In a statement, JP Secretary General Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu said, ‘Latif Siddiqui has not only hurt the religious sentiment of Muslims by denigrating Islam but also ignored Bangladesh’s constitution. Bablu said that people will never forgive Siddiqui, the expelled presidium member of the ruling party who had lost his Cabinet berth and went on to lose the Awami League’s primary membership for his offensive remarks against Holy Hajj and Tabligh Jamaat which he made while addressing aprogramme in New York on September 28. They said this is not comprehensible how the terminated minister came out of the airport dodging the police eyes despite having warrants for his arrest. ‘Is he above the law? We condemn the government’s role in this regard.’ The JP demanded that Latif be arrested immediately and exemplary punishment meted out to him. Or else, the two leaders threatened that their party together with people will wage a strong movement. Siddiqui, who arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal (R) International Airport from Kolkata by an Air India flight around 8:40pm on Sunday, left the airport under an escort of law enforcers for an undisclosed location through the domestic terminal of the Dhaka airport, according to a news agency.