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Latif claims he offered to quit

PMO yet to confirm; cabinet secretary says procedure for his removal complete; Latif on way to India from US, now says sorry for hurting religious sentiment

PARTHA PRATIM BHATTACHARJEE
While the cabinet division said it was all set to have Abdul Latif Siddique fired, the minister has claimed to have tendered his resignation almost a week ago.
The posts and telecommunications and ICT minister told The Daily Star over the phone from Heathrow Airport last night that he had emailed the PMO from Dallas on October 6 and the PMO acknowledged getting his email.
Latif was on his way to New Delhi and he would head for Kolkata from there. He said he would stay in Kolkata for a few days and then return to Dhaka.
Yesterday, over the phone, the minister even read out his resignation letter to The Daily Star correspondent.The PMO has so far made no statement that backs Latif's claim.
Contacted, AKM Shamim Chowdhury, press secretary to the prime minister, told The Daily Star that he was unaware of any email Latif sent regarding his resignation.
" I have to check first," he said.
Latif claimed that he tendered
his resignation three days after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had announced on October 3 that he would be removed from the cabinet.
Latif, however, said none from the government or the Awami League had actually asked him to resign.
There was widespread criticisms and uproar at home and abroad after Latif made
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derogatory comments about Hajj and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Tablighi Jamaat in New York on September 28.
In his letter, he said if the Awami League President Sheikh Hasina removes him from the party presidium, the highest policy-making body of the party, he would not feel bad.
"My regret is I could not live up to the expectation of my leader. Rather, I embarrassed her [Sheikh Hasina)."
In his letter, he apologised to the people, who believe in the country's Liberation War, and also to the pious Muslims, who are upset and disturbed "by the smear campaign run by people who manipulate religion to cash in on his inconsiderate behaviour”.
However, in an interview with the BBC Bangla on September 30, Latif had said he stood by his remarks, but would withdraw those only if the PM asked him to do so. "There is no question of my resigning under pressure," he had said.
In the email, he said, "At the same time I state my desire to resign from the cabinet and I seek your [Prime Minister's] permission.
"I will not feel bad ifyou remove me from the party presidium. Rather, I think it would be appropriate," he said.
Latif said he wants to prove that the party was above any individual.
The minister, however, said he remains in the party as Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Sheikh Hasina are like his lighthouse.
KADER'S BRIEFING
Krishak Sramik Janata League president Abdul Kader Siddique, the brother of Latif, yesterday asked Latif to apologise.
"The nation is shocked by Latifs speech, which hurt the nation's Imaan. As a Muslim I am protesting his comments," he said addressing a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club.
"May Latif have the guidance of Almighty Allah."
Kader, however, apologised on behalf of his brother.
"Minister as well as Awami League leader Latif Siddique is nobody to me, but the person Latif Siddique is my brother," said the noted freedom fighter.
However, Latif over the phone told The Daily Star last night that, “Kader Siddique is nobody to me ... he is not my brother ... he is my political opponent.
"He has no right to talk about me as a brother," he said adding that Kader made the comments to belittle Awami League and Sheikh Hasina.
At the press conference, Kader's Krishak Sramik Janata League viewed that what Latif had said was not only his own remark, rather it was the remark of the Awami League and the incumbent unelected government as well.
The party demanded immediate inclusive national election after consultation with all political parties and social organisations.
GOVERNMENT PREPARES
The cabinet division has completed all procedures for issuing gazette notification regarding the removal of Latif from the cabinet.
It would issue the notification after getting approval from President Abdul Hamid, who returned home Friday night from Saudi Arabia after performing hajj.
Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, while talking to reporters at the Secretariat, said, "We are prepared to issue the gazette and now waiting for the president's signature."
He said the PMO would send a file regarding the removal of Latif to them and they would make a summary and send the file to the President's Office for approval.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, while addressing a press conference on October 3, said Latif would be removed from the cabinet and the file for his removal would be sent to the president once his office opens after Eid holidays.
The Awami League Central Working Committee, the highest decisionmaking body of the party, would today decide the fate of Latif in the party.
The meeting is scheduled for 6:30pm at Gono Bhaban.
Party sources said the AL at the meeting would serve a show-cause notice upon Latif, an AL presidium member, asking him to explain his position on the derogatory remarks he had made about Hajj and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Tablighi Jamaat.
According to the constitution, if Latif is expelled from the Awami League, he will retain his parliamentary membership. However, his membership in parliament would be cancelled if he resigns from the party.