Bangladesh was founded on the principles of democracy, equality, and secularism -- principles which shunned the retrograde and communalistic philosophy of the oppressive Pakistan regime.
Such a nation has no room for the communalistic behaviour showcased by thousands of Hefazat-e-Islam supporters in Sunamganj on Wednesday, who saw it fit to attack an entire Hindu village in response to a social media post which had criticized their leader.
The merits of the post aside, there is no excuse for such a brutal attack, which exposed the deep-rooted intolerance that still exists amongst some of us and further widens the divide between people of different faiths, cultures, and ethnicities.
It has become clear over the years that these are not isolated incidents -- in fact, on Thursday, several miscreants set an idol on fire inside a Hindu temple, reducing it to nothing more than ashes.
The democratic values which gave birth to this nation are the same values which we now must hold on to in order to ensure that people in this country are protected, regardless of religion, race, or ethnicity.
A nation seeking to establish itself in the modern world on the global stage cannot leave room for hate speech and violence, and those responsible for carrying out these attacks and, more importantly, those who incited them in the first place, must be investigated fully and brought to book.
It is not enough to be tolerant and secular in principle only. When terrible acts of communal hatred occur in our land, we must take swift action, because the right to live in peace applies to all of us, regardless of religious affiliation.