Staff Reporter:
A delegation of Buddhist religious leaders yesterday exchanged greetings with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on the occasion of ‘Probarona Purnima’, a religious festival of the community.
They exchanged greetings with the Chief Adviser at the State Guest House Jamuna here.
On the occasion, the Buddhist leaders described the significance of ‘Probarona Purnima’ and invited Professor Yunus to visit their ‘Vihara’ (monastery).
They specifically expressed their gratitude to the Chief Advisor for allocating land for the cremation of Buddhists at Uttara in the city.
The Buddhist leaders said, “After informing the interim government about the matter, the land for the cremation ground was allocated within 10 days. This is unique in history.”
Earlier, if a Buddhist person died in Dhaka, they had to travel a long way to Chittagong for the funeral rites, they said, adding, “Now, there is a place after death (in the capital).”
The Buddhist leaders also informed the Chief Adviser about the preparations for this year’s ‘Kathin Chi-bor Dan’ (a major Buddhist festival).
They also expressed special gratitude and thanks to the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs for their continuous cooperation.
The Buddhist leaders, however, informed Professor Yunus about their various demands, including gov-ernment arrangements for pilgrimages, and the establishment of a government-funded center for knowledge practice after the name of Buddhist scholar, religious leader and philosopher Atish Dipankar.
The Buddhist leaders’ delegation members included Principal of Dharmarajika Buddhist Mahavihar Buddhapriya Mahathera, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Buddhist Federation Bhikkhu Sunandapri-ya, Bhikkhu Kalyan Jyoti of the Hill Tracts Bhikkhu Sangha, Vice Chairman of the Buddhist Religious Welfare Trust Bhabesh Chakma, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Buddhist Association Dhaka re-gion Swapan Barua Chowdhury, Secretary of the Buddhist Religious Welfare Trust Joy Dutta Barua and among the Trustees of the Buddhist Religious Welfare Trust Professor Dr Sukomal Barua, Mong Hla Ching, Sushil Chandra Barua, Professor Bobby Barua, Rubel Barua, and Rajib Kanti Barua.
Religious Affairs Adviser Dr AFM Khalid Hossain and Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Adviser Supradip Chakma were present on the occasion.
