United News of Bangladesh

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Tuesday said all citizens of Bangladesh enjoy equal rights regardless of their religious identity, stressing that being Bangladeshi matters more than belonging to a majority or minority community. “Majority or minority is not the issue. The only thing that matters is that you are Bangladeshi,” he said while visiting the JM Sen Hall puja mandap in the port city on the occasion of Durga Puja. The Prime Minister said the law must apply equally to everyone and the state must ensure equal rights for all citizens, irrespective of their religions. He said people of different faiths fought together in the 1971 War of Liberation without distinguishing between Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians. “We did not see who was Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Christian. We only saw people fighting for the War of Liberation. They wanted to free the country, and they did,” Tarique Rahman said. He said people from different religious and social backgrounds also joined hands in subsequent movements to restore democracy and establish people's rights, including the right to speak freely and vote.