Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Tuesday night firmly rejected any division of citizens along religious lines, declaring that every person living in Bangladesh has only one identity — that of a Bangladeshi.
“Religion is personal, but state rights are equal for all,” the Prime Minister said while addressing devotees and distinguished guests at the JM Sen Hall Puja Mandap in Chattogram city around 9:30 pm.
“There is no scope to separate people as majority or minority. As citizens of this country, everyone’s rights are equal. The law of the state applies to one person in the same way it applies to everyone else. Differences in religion or caste cannot make any citizen’s rights greater or lesser,” he stated.
Drawing on his own experience, Tarique Rahman recalled that political circumstances had forced him to live abroad for 17 years. “In Bangladesh I belonged to the majority religious community, but while living in London I was a minority. The calculation of majority and minority changes with place. But a citizen’s rights and dignity must never change,” he said.
He stressed that people must be regarded as Bangladeshi citizens, not as members of any religious majority or minority. “Religious identity must never become an obstacle to anyone’s rights, security or dignity,” the Prime Minister added.
Referring to the July-August 2024 mass uprising, he noted that when students, young people, children and mothers took to the streets against autocratic rule, no one asked about anyone’s religious identity. “When the injured and the martyrs were taken to hospitals, and when doctors treated them, religious identity was never a consideration,” he said.
“The struggle for people’s rights and dignity was never about religious division. Through the Liberation War, the movement for democracy and the 2024 mass uprising, the people’s aspiration has always been to build a peaceful, discrimination-free and non-communal Bangladesh,” he said.
Calling for the collective cooperation of people of all faiths, the Prime Minister declared: “Bangladesh belongs to Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and Christians alike. With the participation and cooperation of all, we must build a state where no one faces discrimination because of religious identity and where every citizen can live with equal rights.”
Earlier, after completing visits to Rangpur and Rajshahi, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman arrived at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram at 7:40 pm on a military aircraft. He was received by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, Water Resources Minister Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, Chattogram City Corporation Mayor Shahadat Hossain and other senior leaders. From the airport he proceeded directly to the JM Sen Hall Puja Mandap.
