Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed yesterday 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.

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.

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