UNB, Dhaka :
Italian Ambassador to Bangladesh Mario Palma has laid emphasis on joint efforts to fight the evil of the day, a ruthless and faceless terrorism which is acting in the name of religion.
“Only by so doing can we help to make the world in general and Bangladesh in particular a better place to live in,” he said. The diplomat also said it will also help make revert from the sad exclamation they began to utter recently – “Cry, Bangla, Cry’ (Kando Bangla Kando) – to the ever-inspiring and prideful ‘Joy Bangla, Joy!”
The Italian Ambassador made the remarks while addressing a reception on Friday evening at his residence.
“To our Bangladeshi friends, I would say: please, don’t look at our preoccupation – the concern of Italy, the European Union and many other countries here represented – as the unwelcome interference of a handful of foreign envoys on Bangladesh domestic affairs!,” he said. In today’s Bangladesh, Palma said, the cry that all of them are hearing, even more clearly now that the number of tragic events are increasing almost weekly, does not come only from the dying canals or “The Black Gel” once known as the Buriganga River.
It comes from people who have been attacked and hacked to death or who see themselves as potential future victims for professing ideas or creeds that are different from those of self-appointed guardians of religious orthodoxy and social customs, he said. The diplomat mentioned about the cry of the expatriates’ community for the murder of Cesare Tavella and Hoshi Kunio and the cry of local society as a whole for the repeated, incessant attacks on bloggers, intellectuals, religious minorities and even ordinary people.
“We would like to see more resolve from their (authorities) side for what is at stake is the very future of the much-cherished secular features of the State and the rich cultural diversity of this country,” Palma said.
