US envoy lauds Bangladesh’s religious harmony

ZOOMBANGLA DESK: Visiting US ambassador-at-large for international Religious Freedom Rashed Hussain today highly lauded religious harmony and freedom in Bangladesh while he called on state minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam.

“We are very encouraged to see people from different faith groups who are living together peacefully (in Bangladesh),” he told reporters emerging from the meeting with the junior minister at the foreign ministry here.

The envoy said the quarters who are trying to divide and create complication among people of different religions must be stopped. “We must continue to live together peacefully,” he added.

Hussain said Washington wants to see religious freedom everywhere across the world.

Later, Alam told reporters that he briefed the visiting US ambassador about the true picture of religious harmony in the country and the Bangladesh government’s commitment to uphold it.

The state minister informed the ambassador-at-large that everyone in the country enjoys equal citizen rights and Bangladesh doesn’t term anybody as a religion minority.

Alam also noted that some vested quarters had instigated attacks on Buddhist community and vandalized some Hindu temples in few occasions by utilizing the social media through fake facebook IDs.

The state minister said Bangladesh government has taken all possible actions sincerely to address the issues and support the affected Hindu and Buddha communities.

The US ambassador-at-large appreciated the Bangladesh government’s initiative to address these challenges, he added.

“We have agreed that Bangladesh and the US will work together to maintain religious harmony in the days to come,” Alam said.

They also discussed Rohingya issue while the state minister hoped that the US’s recent stand against atrocities committed against Rohingyas by Myanmar will support the Gambia’s case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice.

Hussain arrived in Dhaka on Sunday on a four-day visit to hold a series of meetings with Bangladesh officials. (BSS)