Risky to exclude state religion: Minister tells seminar

Social Welfare Minister Enamul Huq Mostafa Shaheed yesterday said it would be "risky to take away Islam's status as the state religion since 90 percent people in the country are Muslim".

"We should not forget that Bangladesh was born out of a fraction of Pakistan, which itself came into the world map because of Islam", he said.

Due to the country's long-standing connection to the religion, this is a sensitive subject that needed to be considered with much deliberation, he said.

The minister was addressing a national seminar on "Village based defence of human rights and the emergence of MDG villages" organised by Brotee, a non-government organisation, in association with Manusher Jonno Foundation at LGED auditorium in the city.

At the seminar, Brotee shared its experience of working in 36 villages in Rajshahi district.

The NGO officials said that while number of girls going to schools in the villages has increased over the years, participation of boys has decreased.

"In 2008, 51 percent of the boys in the villages went to school. In 2010, it reduced to 49 percent", said Sharmeen Murshid, chief executive officer of Brotee. "Concurrently, participation of girls increased from 48 percent to 50 percent during the same period."

Murshid also highlighted other social and economic developments including rise in rural savings, decrease in child marriages, and more income generating opportunities in the villages.

Other speakers at the seminar stressed the need to make these developments sustainable, and migrate them to other regions.

The minister, however, laid emphasis on collaborative efforts to bring social development in the country and reduce poverty.

He said the government has resources but lacks enough human resources to make a difference.

He called on the private and non-government organisations to gather human resources and approach the government with projects. This way the government can collaborate with non-government organisations to bring social development, he said.

Noted litterateur Selina Hossain chaired the seminar while human rights activist Dr Hameeda Hossain, Manusher Jonno Foundation Executive Director Shaheen Anam, and Anisatul Fatema Yousuf of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), among others, spoke.

Source : The Daily Star