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Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed on Friday said the long-held perception that followers of the Sanatan religion constitute the “vote bank” of fascist forces had been shattered in Bangladesh’s 13th parliamentary election.
He said the country’s Sanatan religious community had disproved the assumption by voting in the election and contributing to the victory of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
“Fascist forces of the past considered our brothers and sisters from the Sanatan community as their vote bank. The Sanatan community has broken that false perception and myth in the 13th national parliamentary election,” Salahuddin said.
The home minister was speaking as the chief guest at a rally held at Palashi intersection in the capital ahead of a Janmashtami procession on Friday afternoon. The procession later began from Palashi and headed towards Victoria Park in Old Dhaka.
Referring to the recent election, Salahuddin said the Sanatan community had exercised its democratic judgement.
“We believe you have made your judgement. In the last election, you gave your verdict against evil forces. We hope you will continue to play a role in strengthening democracy and preserving religious harmony in the future,” he said.
The home minister also said the government had ensured the right of people of all faiths to observe their religious practices freely during its six months in office.
He said the Constitution obliges the state to guarantee religious freedom and prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion.
“The state has the responsibility to ensure the religious freedom of people of all faiths. The Constitution also prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion and guarantees the freedom to establish and manage places of worship,” he said.
Salahuddin suggested replacing the commonly used expression “communal harmony” with terms such as “religious harmony”, “social harmony” and peaceful coexistence.
He said the word “communal” itself need not be used when referring to harmony among followers of different religions.
“From today, we should say that we will maintain religious harmony, social harmony and peace. There is no need to use the term ‘communal harmony’ anymore,” he said.
The home minister also urged followers of the Sanatan religion not to identify themselves as a minority.
“You are citizens of an independent Bangladesh. None of you should identify yourselves as minorities. We hope that you will not identify yourselves on the basis of religion, but on the basis of citizenship,” he said.
The rally was chaired by Gopal Chandra Debnath, president of the Metropolitan Sarbajanin Puja Committee.
Among others, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Indigenous Affairs Bijan Kanti Sarkar, Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator Abdus Salam, Dhaka-7 lawmaker Hamidur Rahman, Hindu Religious Welfare Trust Vice-Chairman Tapan Chandra Majumdar and senior lawyer Subrata Chowdhury addressed the programme.