Staff Reporter:
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman yesterday said his government is committed to ensure the rights and security of every citizen of the country irrespective of their religious identity.
Every people should be treated equally as citizens of Bangladesh rather than on the basis of their faith, he asserted.
The Prime Minister said this during an exchange of views with Hindu community leaders from the Dha-ka-17 constituency at his office at the Bangladesh Secretariat.
“Ensuring everyone’s rights as a citizen regardless of his/her religion is my responsibility as head of the government. I will try my best within my capacity to ensure everyone’s security, not on the basis of re-ligion, but as human beings,” the Prime Minister said.
Representatives of eight temples under Dhaka-17 constituency met him to invite him to attend the up-coming Sharadiya Durga Puja celebrations.
Thanking the leaders for acknowledging the government’s initiatives for the Hindu community, includ-ing extended Puja holidays and increased grants, Tarique Rahman said the steps taken so far reflected the government’s goodwill and efforts were underway to address other issues”
The Prime Minister said people of all faiths had fought together in the Liberation War and participated in democratic movements including the mass uprising of 1990 and the movement of 2024.
“When we keep us above religious identity during all critical moments in the national history, why should we consider it in other matters? We liberated the country together and took part together in the movement to establish democracy,” he said.
He also recalled that people of different religious communities had faced persecution during the previous Awami League government, saying Hindu activists had suffered alongside their Muslim brothers without any religious distinction.
Tarique Rahman said he considered his current position an opportunity to serve people and would make every effort to protect citizens within his capacity, regardless of their religious identity.
“As citizens of this country and as human being, you are entitled to certain rights. As head of govern-ment, it is my duty to try to ensure those rights,” he said.
The Hindu community leaders said they had been living peacefully since the last national parliamentary election and didn’t face any problems.
They expressed satisfaction with the government’s initiatives, and pledged to extend their continued sup-port and cooperation to the government.
BNP Executive Committee member Ramesh Dutta, Gulshan-Banani Sarbojonin Puja Foundation Presi-dent Alok Saha, Baridhara DOHS Puja Committee President Jiban Kanai Das, British Chandra Karmak-ar, Narayan Chandra Saha, Pradip Chandra Das, Shikha Rani Das, Shyamal Kumar Das and Rajib Ku-mar Acharya, among others, were present on the occasion.
Prime Minister’s representative for Dhaka-17 constituency Abdur Rahman Sany and Banani Society Treasurer Shafikuzzaman Raton were also present.
