President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday said every citizen has equal rights in the state regardless of religious identity, stressing that these rights are guaranteed by the Constitution and must be protected.
“Your slogan here is ‘Religion is individual, festivals are for all’. We would like to add to it: ‘Religion is individual, the state belongs to all’,” he said at an exchange of views after visiting Dhakeshwari Temple in the capital on Saturday afternoon on the occasion of Durga Puja.
He said Bangladesh is an exceptional example of communal harmony, with people of different faiths living together in the region for centuries.
“This remarkable unity and harmony can always be found in our literature, culture and arts,” he said.
The president urged people to remain alert against those seeking to create divisions in society and exploit them for their own interests, warning that such attempts could undermine the longstanding communal harmony.
He said people of different faiths had grown up together in Bangladesh since before independence and fought shoulder to shoulder during the 1971 Liberation War, united by the vision of building a non-communal country.
“We remain committed to that vision and are prepared to pay any price to protect it,” he said.
