PM to bring ‘Rainbow Nation’ message to Ctg: Mayor

Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) Mayor Dr Shahadat Hossain said on Saturday that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will visit the Puja mandap at JM Sen Hall on Tuesday during Sharadiya Durga Puja.
The visit will carry a message of building a “Rainbow Nation”, a Bangladesh defined by unity amid diversity. 
The prime minister has pledged equal dignity and rights for all, regardless of religion, caste or community, and a non-discriminatory society based on harmony, coexistence and mutual respect, he said.
The mayor was speaking while visiting the mandap, where he later distributed Puja gifts among 500 women from the Hindu community.
The celebrations were proceeding smoothly across the city, he said, adding that protocols had been put in place to maintain peace and order, ensure smooth access for visitors and keep public movement unobstructed.
“I am working in a planned manner, in coordination with everyone involved,” he said.
Executive officers and magistrates have been deployed in areas hosting Puja mandaps, including Anderkilla and Dewan Bazar, while the CCC cleaning department is working to keep the venues clean.
Tk14.7 lakh has been distributed among 294 mandaps across the city’s 16 police station jurisdictions. The J.M. Sen Hall Puja Mandap received Tk5 lakh, while the Kusumkumari Puja Mandap in Jamal Khan, under the CCC Puja Celebration Council, received Tk15 lakh. Four municipal worker (“Sebak”) colonies housing Harijan communities received Tk50,000 each, totalling Tk2 lakh. The overall grants amounted to Tk36.7 lakh.
“Chattogram is a city of communal harmony,” the Mayor said, adding that people of all faiths must be able to celebrate their festivals safely and without hindrance.