"Ekushey and Islam"
In one of the letters regarding Ekushey and Islam, Md Hossaini claimed that since during the funerals of the King of Jordan foreign dignitaries of non-Muslim background did not feel offended, the non-Muslim visitors at Shaheed Minar should not be offended either. Unfortunately, this is a completely wrong analogy. The King of Jordan was a Muslim and therefore had an Islamic funeral. The Shaheeds who lost their lives for the independence of our country were not necessarily all Muslims. There were Christians and Hindus, to say the least. People of other religions who may have relatives or loved ones that lost their lives could feel offended because no prayers were done for them.
I have noticed over the years that there is a feeling in Bangladesh that we are an Islamic Republic only because majority of the population follow Islam. They fail to realise that the country is known as the People's Republic of Bangladesh. We have people who follow various religions. So why should not we respect that diversity on such an important day?
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