Highlighting Bangladesh’s long-standing tradition of communal harmony, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Saturday stressed the importance of collective efforts to build a safe and peaceful country for all. 'Today, we, people of all religions, are sitting together here in one row,' he said, describing it as the timeless tradition of Bangladesh and asserting that no one should be allowed to create divisions among the populace. The Prime Minister added that Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians would together build a peaceful Bangladesh, creating a safe state and society expected by people of all classes and professions.
Tarique Rahman, who also serves as the chairman of the governing BNP, made the remarks while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the monthly honourarium scheme for imams, muazzins and khadems of mosques, as well as the heads and assistant heads of other religious institutions across the country. During the event, held at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium, he launched the programme by using the IBAS system to send honouraria to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through an electronic funds transfer system under a pilot scheme.
Regarding the newly launched initiative, the Prime Minister noted that 16,992 religious leaders from 4,908 mosques, 990 temples and 144 Buddhist monasteries began receiving monthly honouraria from Saturday under the first phase of the pilot scheme. He stated that everyone would eventually be included in the programme in stages, explaining that the primary objective of such economic initiatives is to ensure citizens from various backgrounds become economically self-reliant.
Furthermore, Tarique Rahman encouraged religious leaders to participate in economic and social activities alongside their spiritual duties, promising that the government would provide full support for such endeavours. He also announced a decision to include one imam, khatib or religious leader from other faiths in the law and order committees of every district and upazila.
LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir addressed the gathering as the guest of honour. The Prime Minister’s advisor for public administration and president of the implementation cell for the honourarium programme, Md Ismail Zabiullah, attended as a special guest, with Religious Affairs Minister Kazi Shah Mofazzal Houssain (Kaikobad) presiding over the function.
The welcome address was delivered by the Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Munshi Alauddin Al Azad. Other speakers included Shaykh-e-Charmonai Mufti Syed Fayzul Karim, senior Nayeb-e-Ameer of Islami Andolan Bangladesh; Mufti Muhibbullahil Baki, Pesh Imam of the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque; Mufti Saiful Islam, Khatib of the Dhanmondi Taqwa Mosque; veteran freedom fighter Uday Sankar Chakraborty, general secretary of Sri Ramakrishna Ashram Kurigram; Dharma Mitra Mahathero, head of the International Buddhist Monastery in Dhaka; and Archbishop Bejoy N. D’Cruze, OMI, the Archbishop of Dhaka.
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