A very merry Christmas!

As the world celebrates Christmas, it is with dismay that we witness the most brutal of wars being fought along sectarian lines with inter-faith relations hitting an all-time low. Here we would like to express our deepest condolences to the families of victims of last week's Berlin Christmas market truck attack that killed 12 people. It is difficult to find words to condemn this heinous attack where unsuspecting people were ploughed down by a truck on a festive Berlin market by a misguided 24-year-old Tunisian young man. We find such acts of barbarity totally unacceptable and yet such violence is being perpetuated in the name of a religion that advocates peaceful coexistence of all citizens regardless of religion, race or ancestry. The message of both Christianity and Islam adhere to some basic principles that advocate peace among humanity, preaching love for everyone and rejection of hatred and acrimony.
Sadly, that message is not being heeded by a section of people who profess the exact opposite of what is laid out in the holy scriptures. In Bangladesh, like many other countries around the world, we have failed to provide the peace and tolerance for all communities according to the spirit of our Constitution. We can only hope that as a nation we can bring back the sense of security among all the Christians in the country so that they may celebrate their big day with joy and peace of mind. With the help of our government we must all join hands to root out the blind hatred of extremists who have twisted religion to justify heinous crimes against certain groups. This would require greater harmony among the communities which can happen if we decide that this nation belongs to us all where people of different faiths have lived in peace over thousands of years. Let that be our pledge on Christmas day.