Reject minority label, we are all Bangladeshis: Home minister

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed today (4 September) said people of all communities in Bangladesh should be treated first and foremost as citizens, rather than being identified as “minorities”, with equal rights and security regardless of their religion or other identities.

“Our primary and first identity should be that we are all Bangladeshis,” he said while addressing the opening ceremony of the central Janmashtami procession as the chief guest at Dhakeshwari National Temple near the capital’s Palashi intersection this afternoon.

The home minister said, “Our leader has clearly said, ‘Bangladesh first’. And if Bangladesh comes first, then each of us is ‘Bangladeshi first’. Our religious, social or ethnic identities will come afterwards. The government’s main principle is to build a Bangladesh for everyone.”

Criticising the previous political practice, he said, “Some people used to consider followers of the Sanatan faith a ‘vote bank’ for a particular party and sought political gains from that idea. But the people of this country have completely rejected such a misconception.”

He also said religious freedom and the right to practise one’s faith had been ensured for people of all religions during the six months since the government took office.

“The people are the judges. You [the people] have already delivered your verdict, and in the future too, you will play a united role in strengthening democracy and resisting extremism and all forms of evil,” he said.

Highlighting the importance of constitutional and religious rights, Salahuddin said the Constitution obliges the state to ensure every citizen’s freedom of religion and prohibits discrimination based on religion.

He added that all places of worship and those responsible for them had been provided with security and freedom to operate.

“The government does not want this equality and harmony to remain merely on paper in the Constitution; it is committed to ensuring them in practice as well,” Salahuddin said.

He also called for a change in the language used to describe relations among different communities, saying the term “communal harmony” was no longer necessary.

“We commonly use the term ‘communal harmony’. But I think there is no longer any need for the word ‘communal’. From today, we should say that we will maintain religious and social harmony, coexistence, and peace. This positive practice will make society more beautiful,” he added.