Abdul Latif Siddique, who has been dropped from the cabinet and the ruling Awami League for his derogatory comments on hajj and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), returned to the country tonight.
Airport and immigration officials said he arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport by a flight of Air India around 8:30pm.
The former post and telecommunication minister, who has been facing several arrest warrants and dozens of cases for the comments, was waiting at the airport for clearance from the government high-ups at the time of filing the report around 9:45pm.
AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said neither the party nor the government would take any responsibility of Siddique.
“He will have to take his own responsibility as he is no more in the government and Awami League,” he told The Daily Star.
BACKGROUND
Awami League finally expelled Abdul Latif Siddique from the party for hurting religious sentiments of the Muslims on October 24.
Earlier on October 12, the ALCWC removed Latif from the AL presidium and suspended his primary membership of the party following the derogatory remarks.
On the same day, Latif was sacked from the Hasina-led cabinet.
WHAT THE MINISTER SAID
At the programme organised by the Tangail Samity at a New York hotel, Latif said he was against hajj and Tabligh Jamaat more than he was against the Jamaat-e-Islami.
“Hajj is a waste of manpower. Those who perform hajj do not have any productivity. They deduct from the economy, spend a lot of money abroad.
“If 1,00,000 people perform hajj every year on an average and spend Tk 5 lakh each, then the total cost stands at Tk 500 crore,” he said.
Speaking about the history of hajj, he said Prophet Muhammad was worried about the people of Arab as they were robbers. The prophet then made an arrangement that his followers meet at a place every year, which will generate income.
Criticising Tabligh Jamaat, he said, “Tabligh Jamaat brings together about 20 lakh people every year. It has no specific duties. It just clogs traffic across the country.”
Latif also castigated Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, saying, “Why do you often mention of Joy? Who is Joy Bhai? Joy is nobody in the government. He cannot make any decision.”
On talk shows, the minister said, “Those who attend talk shows are basically ‘talk man’. They jabber in front of cameras as they have nothing to do.”
He went on to use unprintable offensive words about the talk show speakers and behaved indecently with the journalists present at the discussion.
He snubbed a journalist and said, “Should I talk as you wish? I am telling what I think right. Why have you come here? Who has invited you here?”
Source: The Daily Star
