Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the chief advisor to the interim government said despite differences in religion, caste and opinion, all people of Bangladesh belong to the same family.
He said, "We may have different opinions, different religions, different customs - but we are all members of the same family. Despite hundreds of differences, we are not enemies of each other. We come to one place on the issue of our nationality and identity. We are Bangladeshis, members of one family."
He said this in his opening speech at a meeting with leaders of different religions including Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and Muslims at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital on Thursday afternoon.
The chief advisor said, "Even if all demands are discarded, one demand is clear - we all have equal rights: the right to speak, the right to religion and the right to work. That comes from the constitution. The state's responsibility is to ensure what we deserve as citizens."
Professor Yunus said, "There is no difference in our goals. We need to know how to get accurate information. In the case of real information, sometimes it is useless to rely on government information as the authorities say whatever they want. They do not want to tell the truth openly. We want to know the real news. We want to establish that process. Any incident can happen in such a big country, but we want to know the real information as if we get the information immediately, it can be resolved quickly. Whoever is guilty is guilty. It is the government's responsibility to bring him to justice.”
The chief advisor seeks advice from religious leaders on how to collect free, true information about minority problems. He said, “How can we collect information safely? We must also ensure that the person providing the information does not create embarrassment.”
Dr. Yunus said, “We want to build such a Bangladesh: the one we have named New Bangladesh. We have to do this. We won’t say goodbye to you by pleasing you for today. This has to be done quickly.”
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
