People of all communities — Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Christian — have lived together in Bangladesh for a thousand years, so there is no room for division, Local Government Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said. “Those who want to forget the great Liberation War of 1971, or make others forget it, never trust Bangladesh,” he said.
He was speaking as chief guest at a discussion meeting on “Protection and Security of Minorities” in the capital on Friday.
Mirza Fakhrul said: “Our main weakness is that we have still not been able to build a fully democratic state. Over the past 15 years, the country’s democracy was completely destroyed. But we now want to move forward, overcoming the wounds of the past.”
Saying a vested-interest group was trying to create division in the name of religion, he said many problems and big challenges lay ahead. There was no room to belittle the July movement, he said, but those who tried to use religion to create rifts in society must be stopped at any cost.
Calling for the country’s communal harmony and diversity to be protected by all means, the minister said ensuring the security and equal rights of people of all religions was the main duty of a democratic state.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report