Bangladeshi religious minority groups have urged the government to introduce the reading of scriptures of all four major religions at the beginning of parliamentary sessions and state ceremonies.
Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHB-CUC), the country’s largest minority group, made the call during a virtual conference this week.
Parliamentary sessions and state programs in Muslim-majority Bangladesh now begin with a recitation from the Quran.
BHBCUC leaders say intro-ducing readings from the holy books of the four major religions would be a significant symbolic gesture to behold pluralism in Bangladesh on the eve of the country’s golden jubilee of independence from Pakistan this year.
Advocate Rana Dasgupta, a Supreme Court lawyer and BHBCUC secretary, said that such a move is important as it recognizes the equal dignity and rights of minorities.
“Our constitution has given equal rights for all religions but only a recitation from Quran is done in the parliament and in various state functions. We hope that by introducing the reading of all scriptures we can fill a void that the spirit of the constitution has enshrined,” Das told UCA News on Jan. 8.
Das said the group will hold a press conference and submit a memorandum to the parliament speaker to press the government over their demand. Holy Cross Father Liton H. Gomes, secretary of the Catholic bishops’ Justice and Peace Commission, support-ed the move.