Today the world, and indeed Bangladesh’s sizable Christian community, celebrates Christmas. While Christmas is the most important day in the Christian calendar, more than anything, it represents the sheer diversity of our population and is a testament to the spirit of secularism -- one of the core tenets upon which our nation was founded.
While secularism is indeed alive and well in Bangladesh, it is indubitably witnessing a slow erosion as, time and again, we have seen this tenet not being adhered to as communal violence often manifests in decidedly ugly ways in our country -- a phenomenon that reportedly sees an uptick around the time of elections.
If we succumb to the forces of communal hatred, Bangladesh as it was founded would cease to exist.
We must all remember that, regardless of race, gender, or creed we are all Bangladeshis at the end of the day -- a grander community made up of smaller ones. A community needs harmony to not only survive but thrive, by sharing our personal and communal experiences to better understand each other – we all celebrate puja, we all celebrate Eid, and, today, we all celebrate Christmas.
With the coming year around the bend, we must collectively ask ourselves what we can do to stand up for communities which are not as strong or are as many in numbers as others but have every right and claim to this land, and act accordingly.