President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday urged tax lawyers and citizens from all walks of life to come forward, alongside their professional responsibilities, to uphold social values and strengthen democracy in the country.

“Criminal activities have increased significantly in society as moral and human values are deteriorating. It is deeply unfortunate that incidents such as child killings are taking place, destroying entire families,” the President said.

He called upon every citizen, as a responsible member of society, to raise their voice against such crimes and work to protect moral and human values.

The President made the remarks when a 29-member delegation of the Dhaka Taxes Bar Association and Bangladesh Tax Lawyers Association met him at Bangabhaban this afternoon.

President's Press Secretary Md Sarwar Alam briefed the reporters after the meeting.

The President said the country had returned to the democratic path after a long time and stressed that it was the responsibility of all citizens to protect the democratic system.

“We must ensure that we do not move away from the democratic system again,” he said.

He also said the elected government should be given time to establish a sustainable democratic system by moving away from personality-based governance structures.

During the meeting, Dhaka Taxes Bar Association General Secretary Ashraf Hossain Khan sought the President’s assistance in allocating land for construction of a permanent building for the association.

Former president Md Abdul Matin drew the President’s attention to the need for establishing a Taxes Bar Council to provide training for tax lawyers and address their professional problems and facilities.

Bangladesh Tax Lawyers Association President Ramizuddin Ahmed, who was also a member of the delegation, conveyed congratulations and greetings to the President on behalf of some 42,000 tax lawyers in the country.

He also sought the President’s cooperation in strengthening the forum of tax lawyers institutionally.

The President said tax lawyers play an important role in revenue collection and stressed the need to ensure that all eligible taxpayers pay income tax.

He assured the tax lawyers of all-out cooperation in resolving their various professional problems.

Secretaries to the President’s Office were present during the meeting.