Religious freedom, peace and harmony key govt goals: Home minister

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said on Friday that ensuring religious freedom, peaceful coexistence and social harmony is a key priority of the government.

He urged members of the Hindu community not to identify themselves as minorities but as equal citizens of Bangladesh.

“Everyone may have a religious identity, but as a nation we are all citizens of Bangladesh,” he said.

The minister made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of the historic central Janmashtami procession organised by the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad at the premises of Dhakeshwari National Temple in Dhaka on Friday.

Gopal Chandra Debnath, president of the Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Udjapan Committee, chaired the programme.

Salahuddin said the government had ensured religious freedom and the security of religious programmes for people of all faiths during the first six months of its tenure.

He said people had rejected the notion that members of the Hindu community constituted a particular political vote bank.

“Religion is for individuals, while the state belongs to everyone, and everyone has the right to security,” he said.

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He said the Constitution guarantees religious freedom and the right of people of all faiths to practise their religions. It also prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion and guarantees the security of places of worship.

“We do not want to remain satisfied with merely having these principles written in the Constitution. We want to ensure religious freedom and harmony in practice,” he said.

The home minister said people could retain their religious, cultural and ethnic identities, but their national identity was Bangladeshi.

“First comes Bangladesh. If Bangladesh comes first, then we are Bangladeshis first, followed by our religious, cultural and ethnic identities. Bangladesh is for everyone,” he said.

Salahuddin urged members of the Hindu community not to describe themselves as minorities.

“You are free citizens of Bangladesh. We hope that none of you will identify yourselves as minorities. We expect you to identify yourselves on the basis of citizenship, as equal citizens of this country,” he said.

He also called for replacing the commonly used term “communal harmony” with “religious harmony, peaceful coexistence and social peace and harmony”.

He said such terminology would better reflect the government's objective of ensuring equality and peaceful coexistence among people of all faiths.