PM Hasina: Myanmar needs to learn communal harmony from Bangladesh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said Myanmar should take lessons from Bangladesh on running a country while keeping communal harmony unharmed. She was addressing a meeting with Buddhist religious leaders and distinguished persons of the community on the occasion of the Buddha Purnima at her official residence Ganabhaban in Dhaka. She said a person belonging to any religion has the right to be there on the soil where he or she was born. "That person's rights must be preserved, and that person needs to get all sorts of facilities from the government.” Talking about sheltering the Rohingyas on humanitarian grounds, Hasina said the government has also ensured their security. "We have also ensured there are no clash and anarchy among them.” She also said Bangladesh did not engage in any conflict with Myanmar over the issue as it continued its efforts to resolve the problem through dialogue, and as a result Bangladesh was acclaimed by all across the world. Recalling the horrific days of the BNP-Jamaat’s 2001-2006 regime when people from all religions came under attacks, the prime minister said her administration does not want that type of environment in the country. "We always want a peaceful environment in the country.” She said the BNP-Jamaat clique had tortured people of all religions during their regime and even no religious institution was spared from their attacks. Mentioning that no religion supports inter-religious violence and anarchy, Hasina said the creation of a non-violent environment was the main teaching of Lord Buddha. She said people of all religions, including Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity, fought shoulder to shoulder during the 1971 Liberation War to live here in peace. "Now, the government wants to see the people to live together in harmony and brotherhood as secularism was made one of the basic principles of the country after the independence," she said. The prime minister said the government has been working to protect the rights of all irrespective of their caste, creed and religion for maintaining social equality in every sphere of life. "This land is yours. You will live here with your own rights. You have to think about the country with your own rights.” Mentioning that Bangladesh has long longer been in the group of LDCs as it has already been recognized as a developing country, she sought cooperation of all, including the Buddhist community, to establish it as a poverty and hunger-free middle-income country by 2021 and a developed one by 2041. Chaired by Religious Affairs Minister Matior Rahman, the function was addressed, among others, by State Minister for Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing, Vice-Chairman of the Buddhist Welfare Trust Shupto Bhushan Barua, Deputy Office Secretary of Awami League Biplab Barua, Buddhist Sangha Nayak Suddhananda Mahathero, Upo Sangha Raj Satyapriyo Mohathero, Joint Secretary General of Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad Uttam Kumar Barua, Dean of the European School of Law in London and Bangladesh Supreme Court lawyer Prashanta Bhushon Barua. Trustee of the Buddhist Religious Welfare Trust Dayal Kumar Barua had delivered the welcome address. Earlier, the Buddhist religious leaders greeted the prime minister by presenting bouquets to her. Shupto Bhushan Barua presented a statue of the Lord Buddha to her, while Uttam Kumar Barua, also the director of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, handed over an oil painting on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to Hasina. On behalf of the trust, Dayal Kumar Barua also handed over a Tk5 lakh cheque to the prime minister for her relief and welfare fund to help the forcibly displaced Rohingya people.