Govt committed to ensure freedom of faith: Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reaffirmed her government’s commitment to ensure equal rights to all faiths in performing their respective religious rituals and enjoying their all democratic rights.“In 1971, the people of all faiths had fought the liberation war together under the leadership of father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. So, we’re firmly determined to establish the rights of people,” she said.Hasina was addressing a function arranged on the occasion of her visit to the Puja Mondop of Ramkrishna Mission in Dhaka yesterday.Ruling Awami League advisory council member Suranjit Sen Gupta, MP, among others, spoke on the occasion.Hasina said her government wanted people’s empowerment through ensuring their rights.“The constitution has been amended to establish all the democratic rights of people. We want to turn Bangladesh into a modern country through people’s empowerment and development,” she said.The prime minister said Bangladesh used to be known to the world as a country of militancy and corruption during the last Bangladesh Nationalist Party-Jamaat-e-Islami regime. “After assuming office in 2009, we have been able to remove the stigma. Now Bangladesh is considered as one of the prosperous nations in the world,” she said.Hasina said there is no scope to go back when the country has been put back on track of development. “Let’s work together to build Bangladesh as the golden Bangla as dreamt by the father of the nation.”After visiting the Dhakaswari Temple’s Puja Mondop, the prime minister at a brief function said: “Despite the recent global economic downtrend, our government has been able to maintain a 6.7% growth, which shows Bangladesh’s capacity to emerge as a strong economy.”Hasina thanked the law-enforcing agencies for successfully handling the law and order situation and expressed her happiness as a total of 196 puja mondops have been set up in the capital while 28,000 across Bangladesh.