Strike enforced in Bangladesh to demand arrest of sacked minister

A one-day strike enforced by a coalition of several Islamist parties demanding arrest and punishment of a sacked minister was observed peacefully in Bangladesh on Sunday.

The coalition of Islamist parties including Khilafat Majlish, Khilafat-e Islam, Islami Oikya Jote, Nejam-e Islam, Muslim League and Hefajat-e Islam, most of whom are components of ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's 20-party opposition combine, Wednesday called the nationwide dawn-to-dusk strike for Sunday as their demand to arrest the sacked minister remained unfulfilled.

Bangladeshi Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Abdul Latif Siddique was removed on Oct. 16 from the cabinet for his derogatory comments.

Siddique's comments on annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Tablighi Jamaat (an Islamic religious movement) and expatriate Bangladeshis in New York have sparked huge protests in Bangladesh and in the United States.

Leaders and activists of the coalition with banners and placards in their hands on Sunday brought out people who worked in the professions parading along the main city thoroughfares while chanting slogans in support of their demands.

Traffic on capital Dhaka remained relatively thin as most private vehicles were kept off the usually-clogged city streets. Most shops and other business establishments also downed their shutters.

No untoward incident has been reported in any part of the country.