Latif sent to jail in face of pressure: Fakhrul
BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today said the government was compelled to send recently sacked minister Abdul Latif Siddique to jail in the face of people’s pressure.
The BNP spokesperson came up with the remarks hours after Latif landed in prison on his surrender to Dhanmondi Police Station.
He was addressing a function organised to commemorate Brac University Professor Piash Karim at the Diploma Engineers Institution, Bangladesh in Dhaka this evening.
Latif Siddique surrendered at Dhanmondi Model Police Station around 1:30pm.
Later he was produced before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Atiqur Rahman’s court around 2:30pm.
After a short hearing of the case filed by pro-BNP lawyer Abed Raza over hurting Muslims’ religious sentiments, the magistrate ordered police to lock up Latif Siddique in jail.
WHAT LATIF ACTUALLY SAID
At the September 28 programme in the USA, Latif said, “During Hajj, so much manpower is wasted. More than 20 lakh people have gone to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj. They have no work, no production and are offering only deduction.”
He added some 20 lakh Tablighi Jamaat people get together annually. They do not do any work, except for halting traffic movement in the whole country.
He also reportedly made critical comments about Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the prime minister's son.
When the AL served a show-cause notice asking Latif to explain why he wouldn't be expelled from the party permanently for acting against the party charter, Latif, in reply, defended himself saying the AL dropped the word "Muslim" from its name in 1955 to give the party a secular character.
Moreover, the party ensured freedom of speech and expression through its constitution. And so, he can express his feelings about any issue.
Latif, however, regretted that AL leaders got into "an embarrassing situation" for what he had said.
But the ruling party found his reply unsatisfactory and expelled him.
When the AL served a show-cause notice asking Latif to explain why he wouldn't be expelled from the party permanently for acting against the party charter, Latif, in reply, defended himself saying the AL dropped the word "Muslim" from its name in 1955 to give the party a secular character. Moreover, the party ensured freedom of speech and expression through its constitution.
And so, he can express his feelings about any issue.
Latif, however, regretted that AL leaders got into "an embarrassing situation" for what he had said.
But the ruling party found his reply unsatisfactory and expelled him.
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