Got religious freedom?
Even though we hear about sporadic incidents these days involving tensions among religious groups in Bangladesh, that is certainly not the norm. Despite having differences in political ideology, people of what is know as Bangladesh now have been enjoying religious harmony for hundred of years. We often hear opinions from progressive countries on exercising religious rights and religious freedom. Each nation has room for improvements and so does Bangladesh to leap forward to the next millennium in a positive way. Even though some would like to undermine religious freedom in Bangladesh, one does not need to look through scholarly publications to see clear signs of religious freedom there. It is evident in daily lives as illustrated in the following pictures of Hindus celebrating Durga Puja along with the Muslims fasting in the holy month of Ramadan in Muslim majority Bangladesh where the state religion is Islam. I am not aware of any other nation where each citizen, regardless of their religious affiliation, enjoys national holidays for major religious events of Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism etc.
This year, Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Hindu Durga Puja fell around the same time in Bangladesh. In the above picture, Muslims are buying food for Iftar in the market to break their fast at dusk with other family members.
In the above picture, Durga Puja is being celebrated by Hindus in Ramkrishna Mission and other parts of the country with great passion.