We welcome former cabinet minister Latif Siddique surrendering himself to police on his return to the country.
He is accused in several different arrest warrants of hurting religious sentiments by making controversial remarks on his trip to New York last month.
It is right that due process should be followed under the law, particularly so if other charges are brought on other matters pertaining to allegations of irregularities during his tenure in government.
As we have said before, however, while his remarks were impolitic and worthy of dismissal by the prime minister, there is nothing about them which justifies being used as a cause for demonstrations aimed at gaining supposed political advantage.
Exploiting religion by creating a bandwagon of outrage on matters of religion is a dangerous course to follow.
We hope the law takes a rational approach to his undoubtedly controversial remarks. Aside from the obvious issue of jurisdiction as the remarks were made in the US where they definitely don’t break the law, there is also the issue of whether they broke any Bangladeshi law as well.
In our view, to criminalise careless remarks would be to set the bar for legal action dangerously low. It is relevant to consider constitutional guarantees on freedom of speech and religion.
Moreover, Section 295A is intended for far more egregious acts and statements that deliberately and maliciously hurt religious sentiment. Hence, the bringing of cases under the penal code for hurting religious sentiments appears excessive.