Staff Reporter :Hefazat-e-Islam and some other Islamic parties on Friday staged demonstration in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country protesting the release of Awami League leader and ex-minister Abdul Latif Siddique. They demanded his arrest again and capital punishment for his disparaging comment about Hajj, Prophet Muhammad (Sm) and the Tablig Jamaat.Hefazat-e-Islam warned that they would not return home until Latif Siddique was put to trial. “He is aself-proclaimed atheist. He must be re-arrested and punished. Otherwise, we won’t retire,” said Maulana Noor Hossain Quashemi, Dhaka city unit Ameer of Hefazat-e-Islam. He said this at a rally at the north gate of Baitul Mokarram National Mosque after Jumma prayers. As part of its pre-announced programme, Hefazat-e-Islam arranged the rally there. Later, they brought out a procession. Criticising the government for releasing Latif Siddique, Noor Hossain Quashemi demanded enactment of the ‘Blasphemy Law’ to try those who hurt the people’s religious sentiment. Hefazat-e-Islam also brought out processions in Chittagong and some other parts of the country. Addressing the pre-procession rally in the Port City, leaders of the platform said that they would hold ‘Dhaka Gherao’ programme if necessary. Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ), Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB), Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, Khelafat Majlish, Bangladesh Nejame Islam Party and some other parties and organisations also brought out processions from the north gate of the Baitul Mokarram Mosque after the Jumma prayer. They put the effigy of Latif Siddique on fire. Huge number of police and member of other law enforcing agencies were deployed in front of the Baitul Mokarram Mosque and its adjacent areas, including Paltan, Daink Bangla crossing, Bijoynagar and Gulistan. The IAB leaders and workers brought out a procession in Narayanganj and held a rally at Shimrail point on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway. The IAB also brought out processions in Chittagong and some other parts of the country. In the programme of Chittagong, the IAB leaders warned that they would go for tougher movement on the issue. Latif Siddique, former Telecommunication Minister, was freed from the jail on bail on June 29. At least 28 cases were filed against him for his anti-Islamic comments in the USA on September 28 last year. Amid widespread protest, he was sent to the jail on November 25 in 2014 after he surrendered to the court.
