President, PM greet Hindu community on Durga Puja

President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Friday extended greetings to the Hindu community in Bangladesh and across the world on the occasion of Durga Puja.
In separate messages, they highlighted the significance of the festival in the lives of Hindus and its broader messages of humanity, equality and communal harmony.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman urged members of the Hindu community to celebrate Durga Puja across the country with enthusiasm, joy and confidence, without fear.
“Religion belongs to individuals, while the state belongs to all. Everyone has the right to security, regardless of religion,” he said.
The prime minister conveyed his greetings in a message issued on Friday ahead of Sharodiyo Durgotsab, the biggest religious festival of Bengali Hindus.
Highlighting the significance of the festival, he said equality, human dignity and social justice were fundamental to all religions, while the welfare of humanity was among their principal teachings.
He stressed the need to maintain peace in society through mutual respect, honour and compassion while allowing people to practise their respective religious beliefs and cultures. Tarique Rahman said people of different faiths, groups and communities would observe their religious festivals with enthusiasm, reflecting Bangladesh’s longstanding religious and social values and cultural traditions. He said friendship, harmony, goodwill and fraternity among people of different religions and communities were reflected in the country’s religious, cultural and social activities.
Referring to the country’s political transition, the prime minister said Bangladesh had returned to the path of democracy following the ouster of what he described as fascist rule, at the cost of thousands of lives.
He said a major effort to rebuild the country had begun, adding that the government was committed to establishing a welfare-oriented, safe and humane Bangladesh for all citizens, irrespective of their political views, religion or ethnicity.
The prime minister reiterated his greetings to the Hindu community and called for a society enriched by harmony and amity.
Puja shopping in full swing
Members of the Hindu community spent Friday, a public holiday, visiting shopping malls and markets across the country to buy clothes, shoes, jewellery and other items for the festival.
“I couldn’t manage time for shopping. That is why I have come today. I have bought two saris for my mother and wife and a panjabi for my father. I shall purchase a frock for my daughter,” Shumit Mazumder, an employee of a multinational company, told this correspondent while shopping at Bashundhara City Shopping Mall.
The mall was packed with Durga Puja shoppers, while New Market, Hawkers Market, Doza Market, Gausia, Chandni Chowk and Elephant Road also witnessed large crowds. Binita Shome, a housewife from Kuril, bought a mobile phone from Jamuna Future Park.
“This year, I have opted for a new mobile phone instead of focusing on clothes,” she said.