Staff correspondent:

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has assured the Hindu community of the country that Bangladesh Awami League will always stand by them like in the past.
He said, “We Awami League have always stood by you (Hindu community) and will remain.”
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said this while visiting the Durga Puja Mandap at Dhakeshwari National Temple on the Maha Ashtami day of Sharadiya Durgotsava today while addressing the Hindus.
Greeting the Hindus of the country and abroad, the Prime Minister said that we want this puja to be completed peacefully. We are on your side. Everyone from the members of law and order protection forces to the leaders and workers of our organization will be there. We will all be careful so that no untoward incident of this kind can happen here.
The Prime Minister said that people of all classes, regardless of caste, creed and caste, have made Bangladesh independent by responding to the call of the Father of the Nation and fighting together. But in 1975, after the killing of the father of the nation in his family, the non-communal spirit with which Bangladesh became independent was taken away. Unspeakable atrocities have been committed against the Hindu community. In this Bangladesh we have seen repeated injuries after ’92 and in 2001 and beyond. We, the Awami League, have always been by your side, and we are by your side.
Mentioning that the people of Bangladesh are generous and always believe in non-communal spirit, he said, that is why our slogan is religion for everyone, festival for everyone. This is exactly how we all celebrate the festival. Today Durga Puja is going on in more than 32 thousand pujamandas across the country. He has 440 pujamandaps in Trungipara-Kotalipara of Gopalganj and 246 pujamandaps in Dhaka.
He said, this puja is being celebrated peacefully across the country with religious solemnity. All concerned, including our law enforcement forces, are working with sincerity. We have done our best.
Pointing out that the government has already fulfilled many of the various demands of the Hindu community, he said that he sat with its leaders a few days ago and explained the details there. 
He said, since today is a festival day, I will not talk about what I gave, what I did or what I got, what I did not get.
Sheikh Hasina said, we are all children of this soil. You will live on this land with your own rights. And everyone fought together in the great liberation war. So everyone has equal rights here. We always strive to ensure that those rights are enforced and well established.
He said, you also bless for Bangladesh. May the progress of Bangladesh continue. Now there is food in every house, there is electricity, we are delivering medical services to people. We said in the 2008 election that we will do digital Bangladesh, we have done it. Now our goal is to build Smart Bangladesh in 2041. Inshallah we can do that too. The touch of development across the country, because our work is for the welfare of people. And we consider welfare of people as our only responsibility.
Sheikh Hasina said, we always believe that people of all religions and castes will enjoy equal rights. Referring to Surah Kaferun’s verse ‘Lakum Dinukum Waliadeen’, he said that everyone has been given the right to practice their own religion in the Qur’an Sharif. So no one will interfere with anyone.
JL Bhowmick, president of Bangladesh Puja Udjakar Parishad and Manindra Kumar Nath, president of Mahanagar Puja Udjajar Parishad, also spoke on the occasion. General Secretary of Mahanagar Pooja Udjakar Parishad Romen Mondal conducted the program.
At that time, Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Tapas and local member of parliament Haji Salim were present.
In the beginning, the Prime Minister visited the Pujamandap and later enjoyed dancing.
The Prime Minister later visited Ramakrishna Mutt and Ramakrishna Mission at Gopi Bagh in the capital, exchanged greetings with devotees and addressed them.He said that the father of the nation has ensured the equal rights of people of all religions and castes in the constitution given to us. Our misfortune is that those who came to power after brutally killing the Father of the Nation in ’75 destroyed our non-communal spirit.
He also mentioned that after the constitution was wounded by ‘martial law’ ordinance and religious neutrality was excluded, the Awami League came back to the government and amended the constitution to confirm the religious neutrality i.e. the right of people of all religions to practice their religion freely.
He said, in the world, Bangladesh is a country where every festival is celebrated together. This is the beauty of Bangladesh. Today, everyone can worship peacefully in the pujamandap all over the country. But during the reign of Khaleda Zia and Ershad, there was such a situation in this country that there was no situation to go to the temple and worship at that time. Awami League leaders and workers always work together and are by your side. He said that he has ordered the leaders and workers of his party to ensure the matter along with law enforcement forces to maintain peace.
There is no shortage of food in the country but the Prime Minister reiterated the call to increase overall production by bringing every inch of land under cultivation so that there is no shortage of food in the country due to the Ukraine-Russia war and the recent Israeli invasion of Palestine.
Sheikh Hasina said, we have already got the status of a developing country, the activities of which will start from 2026. We wish that this progress of Bangladesh continues. That is why people of all religions should unite and work for our motherland. Because this country belongs to all of us. You were born on this soil and you will live here with all your rights. At least we guarantee that when we are in power.
Swami Purnatmanandaji Maharaj, Principal and Editor of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission gave the welcome address.The Prime Minister also unveiled the cover of a publication published by the students of Vivekananda Vidyarthi Bhavan of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission in Dhaka.