Don't identify as minorities, all are citizens with equal rights: Home Minister

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has urged citizens not to identify themselves as minorities but as equal citizens of Bangladesh, during a Janmashtami rally in the capital on Friday, September 4.

The rally, organised to mark the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna, began from Palashi Mor in the Dhaka University area.

"Those who used to think that the fascist forces of the past considered the Sanatan brothers and sisters of this country as their vote bank, you have broken that misguided notion and myth," the Home Minister said.

He stated that religion is personal, the state is for everyone, and everyone has the right to security. The Constitution ensures the right to religious practice and freedom for all, and the state will guarantee that. No discrimination can be made on the basis of religion, he said, adding that religious freedom, places of worship and the freedom to establish places of worship have been ensured for all communities.

"We do not want to just hold these rights in books and the Constitution. In reality, we will ensure this harmony and freedom, and we have made that declaration," he said.

"One may have a religious identity, but that identity is not primary here. We want to be identified as citizens. All citizens of Bangladesh, whether Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians or indigenous communities, will freely practise their respective religious and cultural rituals. But in terms of nationality, we are all citizens of Bangladesh," he added.

"We will have harmony among us. That will be our sole identity. That is why we say, as our leader has said, Bangladesh above all. If Bangladesh is above all, then we are Bangladeshis first, then our religious, cultural and ethnic identities. Bangladeshi first and Bangladesh for all," the Home Minister said.

He urged everyone not to identify themselves as minorities, but as citizens of Bangladesh with equal rights. "We use the term 'communal harmony' grammatically, but it would have been better if we did not use the term 'communal'. If we said 'social and religious harmony'," he added.

"From today, we will say: we will maintain religious harmony. We will maintain social harmony and peace. No one needs to mention the term 'communal harmony' anymore. It will be religious harmony, coexistence, and social peace and harmony," Salahuddin Ahmed said.