Home Minister: No minority status needed, equal rights for all Bangladeshis

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said that no community or group living in Bangladesh should need to identify itself as a “minority,”stressing that every citizen of the country must enjoy equal rights and security regardless of religion or other social identities.

“Our primary and foremost identity should be that we are all Bangladeshis,” the minister said. He made the remarks on Friday afternoon as the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of the Historic Central Janmashtami Procession, organised by the Mahanagar Sarbojanin Puja Committee and the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad at the Dhakeshwari National Temple premises in Palashi, Dhaka, marking the Central Janmashtami Festival 1433. Emphasising the government’s commitment to building a non-communal Bangladesh, Ahmed said, “Our leader has clearly said, ‘Bangladesh first.’ If Bangladesh comes first, then each of us is, first and foremost, a Bangladeshi.

Our religious, social or ethnic identities come afterward.” “The government’s fundamental principle in running the state is a Bangladesh for everyone,” he added. ‘Political myth of Hindu vote bank shattered’ Criticising what he described as political attempts in the past to portray followers of Sanatan Dharma as the “vote bank” of a particular political party, the home minister said the conscious people of Bangladesh had completely rejected such a perception.

“Those who believed in the past, or sought political gains by claiming, that followers of Sanatan Dharma were the vote bank of a particular party have seen that misconception and artificially created myth completely shattered by the conscious people of this country,” he said. He said that since the present government assumed office, the religious freedom and observance of people belonging to all faiths had been ensured over the past six months. “The people are the judges.

You have already delivered your verdict, and in the future as well, you will remain united to strengthen democracy and stand against all forms of evil forces and extremism,” Ahmed said. Religious freedom must be guaranteed in practice Highlighting the constitutional guarantee of religious rights, the minister said the Constitution of Bangladesh obliges the state to ensure religious freedom for every citizen. “No discrimination can be made on the basis of religion in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution,” he said. He further said that full security and freedom had been ensured for places of worship belonging to all faiths and for those responsible for managing them. “The government does not want to confine these principles of equality and harmony merely to the written provisions of the Constitution.

We are committed to ensuring them in practice as well,” he said. Call to change the language of social harmony The home minister also called for a change in the way social harmony is described, saying that the term “communal harmony” itself may no longer be necessary. “We commonly use the term ‘communal harmony’. But I believe there is no longer a need for the word ‘communal’. From today, we should say that we will maintain religious and social harmony, coexistence and peace,” he said.

“Such positive practice will make our society more beautiful,” he added. Procession inaugurated at Dhakeshwari Temple The rally and procession were chaired by Gopal Chandra Debnath, president of the Mahanagar Sarbojanin Puja Committee. Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator and freedom fighter Bir Muktijoddha Md Abdus Salam addressed the event as the inaugural speaker. Prime Minister’s Special Assistant for Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Indigenous Community Affairs, with the rank of state minister, Bijon Kanti Sarkar, and Dhaka-7 constituency lawmaker Hamidur Rahman attended the event as distinguished guests.

Among others, Hindu Religious Welfare Trust Vice Chairman Tapan Chandra Majumder, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) National Executive Committee Joint Organising Secretary for Khulna Division Jayanta Kumar Kundu, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad President Basudeb Dhar and General Secretary Santosh Sharma also addressed the gathering.

The programme was moderated by Mahanagar Sarbojanin Puja Committee General Secretary Shubhashish Kumar Biswas (Sadhan). The procession was formally inaugurated by Md Abdus Salam by lighting a ceremonial lamp at the beginning of the programme. The Janmashtami procession began at Palashi Mor, at the Dhakeshwari National Temple premises, and proceeded through the capital before concluding at Bahadur Park.