Dropped from the cabinet and the ruling Awami League, lawmaker Abdul Latif Siddique had his way finally. Until then, the confusion over his whereabouts or fate only thickened over the last two days.
His disappearance immediately after he had arrived at the Dhaka airport, his lawyer’s U-turn about his knowledge of Latif’s whereabouts and a tense parliament session where senior MPs demanded his arrest did not help matters at all.
Latif ordered to jail by a Dhaka court yesterday, but at the entrance of the Dhaka Central Jail, this five-time lawmaker refused to go in through the side entrance.
He stood at the jail gate swarming with the law enforcers in their blue and green uniform. Television cameras zoomed on the Tangail MP’s face evidently from far away. He stood there for almost 20 minutes saying, he was still an MP and must not be treated as a common criminal.
“I have never gone in through any gate but this one. I will not use the other entrance,” Latif said.
Eventually, the jailer came out himself to escort him into the jail. The doors opened just a few feet to let him in.
A number of journalists asked him about his reaction to the court’s verdict that sent him to jail, as Latif stood at the jail gate still. But he did not answer any of them.
Metropolitan Magistrate Atiqur Rahman ordered that the former telecom minister be sent to jail for hurting religious sentiments. Latif did not appeal for bail.
When the court asked Latif whether he had appointed a lawyer, he said: “I have not given anyone the power of attorney, nor will I appoint any lawyer.”
The 71-year-old politician said he would represent himself.
Earlier, he was arrested after he had surrendered at Dhanmondi police station.
OC Helal Uddin said Latif reached the station by car around 1:35pm. “We escorted him to the court straightaway.” The former minster did not even get off his car, he said.
Latif ‘defends’ himself
The former minister reached a crowded magistrate court amid tight security around 2pm yesterday. Proceedings began within half an hour the better part of which he spent in the court lock up.
Security measures were in place at the court teeming with lawyers and observers as the news of his arrest spread.
When the court asked Latif what he had to say for himself, Siddique said: “Let me hear what the complaint is. Then I will answer.”
Complainant ANM Abed Raja, a pro-BNP lawyer, began with his submission. “I know his family, and his father. I had no personal relation with him but I knew his brother personally. He has hurt the religious sentiments of all Muslims in the world. He should be punished.”
The court responded saying that the accused had not sought bail and since he had no lawyer, he would be sent to jail. Latif did not get any opportunity to defend himself at that point.
Additional public prosecutor of Fourth Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court Saiful Islam Helal at that moment interrupted saying: “We are also opposing Latif Siddique’s bail.” He requested that the court put its proceedings on hold since his senior, the public prosecutor of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court, was on his way.
The judge said: “You are not supposed to have an opportunity to speak as this is a petition case.”
The court adjourned at 2:40pm.
Lawyers, mostly with BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami leanings, hurled abuses at Latif as he was being taken away to prison. They demonstrated and showed their shoes and spat in Latif’s direction as the prison van started for the Dhaka Central Jail around 3pm.
20-minute jail gate drama
The prison van reached the jail gate around 3:25pm. The VIP prisoner was taken to the entrance but he refused to go in by a side entrance. He demanded that the main gates be opened for him.
“I never got in or out through this ‘pocket gate’ in the last 30 years,” he told the policemen escorting him.
The pocket gate is generally used for common criminals. The main gates are opened only occasionally when prison vans and cars need to go in or come out.
The officials tried to convince Latif but in vain. They told him that it would be hard to tackle the crowd of journalists and on-lookers if they opened the main gates. But Latif was adamant.
Assistant Commissioner of Lalbag Zone Faiz Ahmed, and the OCs of Kotowali and Chawkbazar police were seen pleading with the former minister. Seeing no other alternatives, the policemen then cordoned off the journalists as the senior politician waited in front of the main entrance.
Journalists asked Latif why he did not appoint a lawyer, why he did not appeal for bail and whether he was content with the court order. Latif, in a white shirt and black trousers, only smiled at them. There was no answer.
The Dhaka Central Jail superintendent, Farman Ali, came out and escorted Latif inside through the main gate around 3:45pm.
It took a former minister barely two hours to land in jail from the time of his surrender.
Farman later told Dhaka Tribune: “Jail super or jailers can open the main gate on special occasions or reasons. [This time] it was done to control the situation.”
Drama over whereabouts
Latif had gone to India after his controversial remarks in the US. He returned to Dhaka on Sunday evening on a flight from Kolkata in West Bengal and immediately disappeared after exiting the airport which in turn gave rise to much speculation.
The plot, as it were, thickened as Latif’s lawyer Nurul Islam Sujon made a U-turn within a span of just an hour. He had told a TV station that his client would appeal for an anticipatory bail at the High Court, implying knowledge of his whereabouts.
But Sujon denied having any such knowledge as soon as the news item flashed across TV screens as breaking news.
Before he surrendered, the police said they could not trace Latif, who had arrest warrants in several cases for hurting religious sentiments.
Monday evening’s parliamentary session saw several senior MPs demanding his arrest and sacking as lawmaker. There was heated discussion about Latif’s hurting religious sentiments.
In the meantime, radical Islamist platform Hefazat-e-Islam and BNP-ally Islami Oikyo Jote threatened to call a nationwide strike for Thursday if he was not arrested by today. However, the programmes were called off following the court order that sent him to jail. The Islamists also thanked the government for taking action.
On Monday, a Dhaka court directed the Ramna OC to arrest Latif in connection with a case filed for hurting religious sentiments while Supreme Court lawyer Eunus Ali Akond filed a public interest litigation suit with the High Court seeking its directive on arresting Latif within 24 hours.
More than a dozen other cases have been filed against Latif for his derogatory remarks of September 28 at a meeting in New York. On that day, he remarked on Hajj, Ijtema and the PM’s son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy.
Following the remarks, he was sacked from the cabinet as ICT, post and telecom minister on October 12. His Presidium and primary membership in the ruling Awami League was also annulled soon after.
The Awami League has made it clear that the party would not take responsibility of its former policymaker’s statements. Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said: “He is on his own.”
Radical Islamist groups such as Hefazat and other political parties inclduing Jamaat-e-Islami started demanding that the government bring him back and try. Hefazat chief Shah Amhad Shafi and his close associates also declared a bounty of Tk5 lakh for Latif’s head, according to an intelligence report.
Latif’s sermons
Latif had said much resource and manpower is wasted during Hajj, at the September 28 programme in the USA. “More than 20 lakh people have gone to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj. They do not work or produce anything. They only drain the resources of the country.
“Some 20 lakh Tablighi Jamaat people get together annually [in Tongi]. They also do not do any work, except for halting traffic movement in the whole country.”
He also criticised Prime Minister’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and his “supposed” role in the government.
When the ruling party demanded an explanation from Latif, he defended himself saying the party had dropped the word “Muslim” from its name way back in 1955 to give it a secular character.
Moreover, the party ensured freedom of speech and expression through its constitution. And so, Latif claimed, he could express his feelings about any issue. Awami League found his reply unsatisfactory and expelled him.
In an interview with the BBC Bangla soon after his remarks, Latif said he was firm on his stance about Hajj. He also denied to resign saying: “I will only follow the directives of the prime minister.”
Shouldering responsibility for his comments, he said: “I commented on Hajj as a liberal and modern human being. I only said what I believe. It might hurt some people...they are also expressing their opinions and hurting me. I thought I was in a free world [outside Bangladesh] where everyone is like a bird. I did not know that there are many black cats here too.”