Staff Reporter :
Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom of the United States Rashad Hussain on Wednesday said, a section of people wants to destroy prevailing religious harmony in Bangladesh.
He called upon the Bangladesh government to ferret out the people responsible for working against the peaceful co-existence in the country.
The envoy said this to the journalist after holding a meeting with the State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam at the latter’s office in the capital.
“People of different faiths live in peaceful environment here. But some people want to create division and trigger conflicts. Police should look into the matter to find out the evils,” Rashad said.
“Both Muslims and Hindus are living peacefully. People of other faiths are also living peacefully. But some groups want to create division. We are anxious about such religious conflicts. We condemn such incidents,” he added.
Asked about who are involved in such incidents, he said, “We have talked to the representatives of the Hindu community. They said that they are living peacefully with other religious communities. Now those who are responsible for creating disharmony should be identified by the police.”
“The US representatives have urged us that religion should not be used as a political tool. We have told him that the current government is successful to a great extent to resist the rising of the religion based political parties,” Shahriar Alam, after holding talks with the US ambassador-at-large, said to the journalists.
The US representative has also assured that his country will assist Bangladesh in taking steps against the accused responsible for Rohingya genocide.
In addition, Shahriar Alam condemned the violence unleashed on Palestinians by the occupied Israeli forces. “We condemn such attacks against the Palestinians. It’s completely unacceptable. We protest it,” he added.
The meeting also discussed the Rohingya issue and the US assured of continuing its assistance.
“America provides the highest level of financial assistance for the Rohingya community. They have requested us to impart education for the Rohingya children. This matter is under our consideration,” state minister said.
Shahriar said US wants to work with Bangladesh to maintain the religious harmony here.
