Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud urged the countrymen on Friday to desert those who are trying to turn secular Bangladesh into a communal nation.
Hasan Mahmud, also ruling Awami League’s joint general secretary, was speaking at the inauguration of this year’s Chariot Festival (Ratha Yatra) organized by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) at Chittagog city’s Prabartak Intersection area.
Hasan said that festivals of many communities jointly form the Bangladeshi culture, and the Chariot Festival is such a celebration. Father of The Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had created Bangladesh to free the people of this land from the poisonous air of communal hatred.
“Communal forces have tried repeatedly to damage the secular character of Bangladesh. Our government has always contained such forces with an iron hand. That’s why vested quarters couldn’t cause any damage during last year’s Durga Puja festival,” Hasan said.
Lamenting some opposition political parties, Hasan added that whenever the national election arrives, they start to spread the propaganda that the Awami League is a communal and anti-India party.
Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune“Although these types of propaganda don’t work anymore,” Hasan added.
Mentioning the steps that the Awami League government has taken in recent years for the country’s Hindu community, Hasan said that the government has increased the allocation for Pujas and other Hindu festivals more than anyone has ever done.
He also said that more and more people from the Hindu community are getting government jobs nowadays, including in the police force, the army, the judiciary and the administration.
“The government has selected a Hindu as the police commissioner of Chittagong, which is the first of its kind in the country. Besides, the government had also chosen another Hindu person as the chief justice of the Supreme Court in the recent past,” said Hasan.
Hasan also said that the current government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is working round-the-clock to ensure equal rights and opportunities for people of every faith.
