Bangladesh PM calls for vigilance at Janmashtami event

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Thursday called on Bangladeshis to remain vigilant against anti-social forces trying to destroy the “existing atmosphere of harmony” in the country as he joined the Hindu community for Janmashtami celebrations.

Rahman was speaking at a state-sponsored reception and honorarium distribution programme for prominent members of the Hindu community, priests, and sebaits (temple custodians) at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka, marking the Hindu festival Janmashtami.” We must all remain vigilant so that anti-social forces cannot raise their heads again and no one can destroy the existing atmosphere of harmony,” Rahman said. The prime minister said that people of different faiths have lived together in Bangladesh for generations, maintaining mutual respect and harmony, but some groups are trying to destabilise the country through social media. He said repeated attempts were being made to create divisions and provoke communal tensions.

“I urge everyone to remain vigilant so that communal provocation or hatred does not become a cause of unrest in our society,” PM Rahman said.  Rahman said everyone had the right to practise their own religion, and everyone has the right to security.

In the past two years, several rights groups, including Amnesty International, urged successive transitional and political administrations in Bangladesh to take urgent, concrete action to guarantee the safety of minority faiths in the country.

The Government earlier said most incidents of violence against minorities stemmed from political rivalries or were ordinary criminal activities rather than systematic religious persecution.

“The identity of political affiliation, religion, ethnicity or other distinctions in the state and society should not become a cause of division and discrimination among people,” Rahman said at the event. “Let us all consider ourselves Bangladeshis, not minorities or majorities,” he said.  The premier later distributed honorariums to priests and sebaits from various parts of the country.