Bangladesh former minister surrenders after Hajj criticism

Siddique calls Hajj a "waste" of manpower


Afp November 25, 2014

DHAKA: An influential Bangladesh ex-minister surrendered to police and was jailed on Tuesday after extremists staged nationwide protests calling for his arrest and prosecution over remarks criticising the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Abdul Latif Siddique's surrender came a day after extremists gave an ultimatum to detain him after he returned home on Sunday following a long stay in India and the United States where he called Hajj a "waste" of manpower.

The accused "surrendered to police" early Tuesday afternoon, Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesperson Masudur Rahman told AFP.

Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's court then "sent him to jail as he did not seek bail", public prosecutor Abdullah Abu said to AFP.

Wild protests erupted at the court as hundreds of people, including lawyers, hurled abuse at the former minister, television footage showed.

Some demonstrators waved sandals and shoes at him - regarded as a serious gesture of disrespect in the Muslim world.

Siddique's remarks triggered widespread protests across the Muslim majority nation in September, with extremists demanding his dismissal from the cabinet of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and his prosecution for "hurting their feelings". Some groups have even demanded his execution.

Hasina fired Siddique from the post of telecommunications minister while he was still in the United States.

Local courts issued more than a dozen arrest warrants against him for "wounding religious sentiments" of Muslims.

Siddique spoke out against the Hajj pilgrimage and the Tablig Jamaat group at a rally in New York.

Television footage showed Siddique telling Bangladeshi expatriates in New York that, "I am dead against the Hajj and the Tablig Jamaat".

"Two million people have gone to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj. Hajj is a waste of manpower. Those who perform Hajj do not have any productivity," he said in the televised proceedings.

"They (Hajj pilgrims) deduct from the economy, spend a lot of money abroad," he said.

After his speeches were shown on television, hardline extremist group Hefajat-e-Islam declared him "an apostate".

Siddique has refused to apologise for his comments on the Hajj - a pilgrimage he performed in 1998, according to Bangladeshi dailies.

In 1994, similar protests by extremists forced author Taslima Nasreen, a self-declared atheist, to seek exile abroad. Nasreen now lives in India.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ