DHAKA: An influential Bangladesh ex-minister surrendered to police and was jailed on Tuesday after Islamists staged nationwide protests calling for his arrest and prosecution over remarks criticising the annual Muslim Haj pilgrimage.

Abdul Latif Siddique’s surrender came a day after Islamists gave an ultimatum to detain him after he returned home on Sunday following a long stay in India and the United States where he called the Muslim ritual Haj a “waste” of manpower.

The accused “surrendered to police” early on Tuesday afternoon, Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Masudur Rahman said.

Dhaka’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s court then “sent him to jail as he did not seek bail”, public prosecutor Abdullah Abu said.

Wild protests erupted at the court as hundreds of people, including lawyers, hurled abuse at the ex-minister, television footage showed.

Some demonstrators waved sandals and shoes at him — regarded as a serious gesture of disrespect in the Muslim world.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014