Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed today said no group or community in Bangladesh should be identified as a “minority”, stressing that all citizens are entitled to equal rights and security.

“Our first and foremost identity should be that we are all Bangladeshis,” he said while inaugurating the central Janmashtami procession at the Dhakeshwari National Temple this afternoon.

The event was organised by Mohanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee and Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad at the temple grounds.

Salahuddin said the government was committed to building an inclusive Bangladesh where all citizens are treated equally.

“Our leader has clearly said, ‘Bangladesh first’. And if Bangladesh comes first, each of us is Bangladeshi first. Our religious, social or ethnic identities come later,” he said.

He said the constitution guarantees religious freedom and prohibits discrimination on religious grounds, adding that the government is determined to ensure equality and harmony in practice.

Criticising past political practices, the minister said followers of the Sanatan faith had at times been portrayed as a “vote bank” for a particular political party. He said the people of Bangladesh had disproved that notion.

Salahuddin also called for the term “communal harmony” to be replaced with “religious and social harmony, coexistence and peace”.

The event was presided over by Mohanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee President Gopal Chandra Debnath. Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator Md Abdus Salam formally inaugurated the programme.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, and Ethnic Minority Affairs (state minister rank) Bijan Kanti Sarkar and Dhaka-7 MP Hamidur Rahman spoke as special guests at the event.

Following the inauguration, the Janmashtami procession began at Palashi intersection and ended at Bahadur Shah Park.