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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that her government strongly believes in the values of secularism and any attempt to disrupt communal harmony are immediately dealt with.
“As long as we are in power, we will continue to prioritize that and I always tell them (minority communities) that you are our citizens… this is your country too,” PM Hasina said in an interview with Indian News Agency ANI ahead of her visit to India.
Hasina, however, said that extremism was not limited to Bangladesh as many countries, including India, were witnessing it.
She said one of the reasons for the ongoing rise in extremism was social media.
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“Some incidents take place but we immediately take action… These are unwanted situations but you know very well, it is not only Bangladesh, in India minorities suffered too at times,” she said.
“… You know Bangladesh is a secular country and we have many religions here… there is religious harmony here. So, one or two incidents, when these happen, immediately... especially my party... my party activists, they are very conscious about it and my government as well. We immediately take action,” she said.
Asked to comment on the role of the community of bloggers and others on social media, Hasina said that it is not desirable that people write things to hurt each other and added that her government tried to curb such cases.
“Look, extremism is everywhere… even in India and other countries... Because of social media it has become very... very bad nowadays,” Hasina said.
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Hasina told ANI that while some incidents have occurred, Bangladesh has a tradition where people of all religions take part in all celebrations.
“Together we celebrate... In Bangladesh, during Durga Puja, people celebrate together. So, the religious harmony is there but now some incidents happen here and there… Our government immediately takes action against it,” the PM said.
Asked about the prevalence of cattle-smuggling from India into Bangladesh, Hasina said the issue was under discussion and the magnitude of the problem had also been reduced a lot.