Staff Reporter :The alliance of several Islamic parties — Sammilito Islami Dalsamuho — has called countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal for Sunday as the demand for arresting the recently sacked minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui is not met within their timeframe. Earlier on October 1, the alliance gave the government a 15-day ultimatum to arrest Siddiqui but later it extended the date till October 22 (Wednesday). It also wants Siddiqui’s capital punishment. The alliance will stage countrywide demonstration and bring out procession today (Friday) in support of the hartal. Member-secretary of the alliance and secretary general of Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan Maulana Zafrullah Khan in a statement on Thursday urged all to make today’s demonstration and Sunday’s hartal a success. Maulana Zafrullah warned that they would go for continuous movement if the government creates any obstacle during the hartal hours.Meanwhile, Hefazat-e-Islam, the much-talked-about platform of Islamic parties, is still undecided about lending its support to the hartal although the platform also wants capital punishment of Latif Siddiqui.Dhaka city unit convener of Hefazat-e-Islam Maulana Noor Hossain Quasemi at a press conference at a madrasah in city’s Baridhara area said that they have not taken any decision in this regard till now. He, however, gave a 20-day ultimatum to the government for arresting Latif Siddiqui for his derogatory remarks on Hajj and Tablig Jamaat. A tougher movement will be launched if the government does not arrest him, he warned.
