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| Fanuses (paper lanterns) being released into the sky on the eve of Prabarana Purnima, one of the biggest Buddhist festivals, during a solidarity event at TSC intersection of Dhaka University on Sunday. Prabarana Udjapan Parishad organised the programme. Photo: STAR |
Your Right To Know
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Prominent civil society members on Sunday conveyed their solidarity to the Buddhist community on the eve of Prabarana Purnima celebration and highlighted the necessity of fostering a secular and inclusive Bangladeshi identity.
“I never think that in this country there is a division between 'us' and 'you'. We all have equal rights to this country,” renowned writer Muhammad Zafar Iqbal told a solidarity event at TSC of Dhaka University, organised to mark the festival which has been marred by the Ramu violence this year.
About the blame game centring the violence, he said, “If we keep on blaming each other for what happened, it means we don't really understand the problem, and if we don't understand the problem, we will never be able to solve it.”
Prabarana Udjapan Parishad organised the event to thank the journalists, politicians, rights activists, lawyers and others who stood up for Buddhists following the September 29-30 violence when at least 12 Buddhist pagodas and over 50 Buddhists houses were ravaged in Cox's Bazar and Chittagong.
During the event, a 100 fanuses (paper lanterns) and mongol prodeeps (lamps) were lit. Each of the fanuses had a name of an affected Buddhist temple written on it. Prabarana Purnima is one of the biggest Buddhist festivals.
Industries Minister Dilip Barua, among others, addressed the programme.
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