PM vows rights and security for all citizens

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has declared that his government is making every possible effort to safeguard the rights and security of every citizen, irrespective of religious identity, stressing that protecting people’s legitimate entitlements is his responsibility as head of government.

The prime minister made the remarks during an exchange of views with Hindu community leaders from the Dhaka-17 constituency at his office in the Cabinet Division of the Bangladesh Secretariat on Monday, October 12. Representatives of eight temples met him ahead of the autumn Durga Puja and invited him to join the festivities, according to a deputy press secretary. The leaders lauded several initiatives taken since the BNP came to power and thanked Mr Rahman for extending the Durga Puja holiday and increasing financial assistance. In response, he said the measures introduced within a short span reflected the government’s goodwill, adding that efforts were under way to address other issues as well. Moreover, the community leaders said they had lived peacefully since the national parliamentary election and faced no problems, and that the government’s conduct had repeatedly reinforced their conviction that voting for the BNP had not been a mistake, pledging their continued support and cooperation.

Invoking the Liberation War, the mass uprising of 1990 and the 2024 uprising, Mr Rahman noted that people of different faiths had stood shoulder to shoulder at critical junctures in the nation’s history. His father had taken part in the Liberation War, he recalled, when Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians fought together for independence. “When we did not consider religion during moments of national crisis, why should we consider it in other matters?” he asked, emphasising that people of every faith had also joined the struggle for democracy. Furthermore, he said that activists from different religious communities had suffered persecution during what he described as the Awami League’s authoritarian rule, and that Muslim and Hindu BNP activists alike had endured it without any distinction on religious grounds.

Read More: Dengue kills four more, toll climbs to 307

He said he regarded his office as an opportunity to protect people regardless of their faith, and pledged to discharge his duties so that every citizen received what he or she was entitled to. Those present included BNP executive committee member Ramesh Dutta, Gulshan-Banani Sarbojonin Puja Foundation President Alok Saha and representatives of several temple and community organisations, together with Abdur Rahman Sani, the representative of Dhaka-17 MP Tarique Rahman, and Banani Society Treasurer Shafiquzzaman Ratan.