Commerce, Industries and Textiles and Jute Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir on Friday stressed the need to preserve Bangladesh's long-standing tradition of religious harmony, mutual respect and peaceful coexistence among people of all faiths.
"Religious harmony is a unique asset of Bangladesh. Even many large democratic countries around the world cannot demonstrate the kind of religious harmony that Bangladesh enjoys," he said.
The minister made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a view exchange meeting and grant distribution program organized on the occasion of the upcoming Sharadiya Durga Puja at the conference room of Sylhet City Corporation (SCC).
At the program, he handed over grants of Tk40,000 each to representatives of 85 Durga Puja mandaps in the city, distributing a total of Tk34 lakh.
Muktadir said the government remained committed to ensuring that people of all religions could celebrate their religious festivals peacefully and without hindrance. He also said the government would work together with all concerned to develop religious institutions.
The minister said he had visited mosques, temples and other religious institutions both before and after being elected as a lawmaker from Sylhet. He added that the SCC administrator was working to address infrastructure-related problems at these institutions, said a ministry press release. He thanked the city corporation authorities for providing financial assistance to the Durga Puja mandaps.
Highlighting the city's development initiatives, Muktadir said development work had been completed on around 550 kilometres of roads out of approximately 800 kilometres across the city corporation's 42 wards.
He said tenders had also been invited for the development of the remaining roads, while initiatives had been taken to begin improvement work on roads under the Roads and Highways Department.
The minister said the authorities had taken initiatives to construct a new bridge over the Surma River beside the historic Keane Bridge. He also said steps were underway to arrange housing for members of the Harijan community.
To address the shortage of safe drinking water in the city, the government had undertaken a major project to treat water from the Chengerkhal and supply it to residents, he added.
Speaking at the program, SCC Administrator Abdul Qayyum Chowdhury said the city corporation, district administration and police administration were working sincerely to ensure the peaceful celebration of Durga Puja. He urged representatives of Puja mandaps and temple committees to contact the city corporation whenever they needed assistance.
