Religious and political leaders, scholars and activists said on Saturday that dialogues between different communities needed for unity and the government should impartially control law and order of the state.
They also said the government failed to resist attacks on shrines, darbar sharif and baul establishment as well as fail to stabilize the law and order of the country after the student-led mass uprising.
They made the remark at a discussion titled 鈥楽hrine Culture: Violence, Crisis and Future Perspectives鈥� organised by Maqam : Center for Sufi Heritage at Shamsul Alam Khan Milon Hall of the BMA Building in Topkhana Road in the capital Dhaka.
Adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Mahfuz Alam was present at the event as chief guest while Maqam coordinator Imran Hussain Tushar placed five point recommendations regarding the issues.
Mizanur Rahman presented the key note paper of the event and also moderated the discussion while additional secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Ayatul Islam, National Citizen Party chief coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary, lawyer and media personality Manzur Al Matin, poet Imrul Hasan, writers Tahmidul Jami, researcher Bhuiya Mohammad Asaduzzamanand, among others, and representatives from 17 shrines and darbar sharifs were spoke at the event.
Mizanur Rahman said that the reaction of the law enforced agencies about attacks on shrines and darbar sharifs was almost zero while internal crisis of the darbar sharif community causes of zero resistance against the attacks and most of the newspaper鈥檚 language and approach used for consent making of shrines attacks among the citizen.
A documentary depicting post-August 5 violence at shrines was also screened after his presentation.
Maulana Syed Rabiul Islam from Nilphamari said that attacks on shrines are not only attacks on a place but also on the spiritual culture of the country.
Maulana Ghulam Jilani said that after the attacks no government officials even visited the places for inspections.
Manzur Al Matin said that political parties also have responsibility for the attack on Shrines and temples.
Nasiruddin Patwary said after the uprising they worked to create harmony among the youth of different communities and parties because the diverse education system created discrimination in society.聽
鈥楳odern state and politics should address all peoples and we need a rights based state instead of religion based state,鈥� Nasiruddin said, stressing that the constrictions must assure the citizens rights.
Mahfuz Alam said that although the July uprising eliminated political fascism in Bangladesh, social and cultural fascism continues because the state and political parties capitalized the disagreements and diversity of religious orientations of people instead of coordination.
鈥楥ases must be filed against shrine attacks so that violence not turn into a culture because the state takes the attack on the shrine as a deterioration of the law and order situation,鈥� said Mahfuz Alam, adding that people must unite to defend without counterattacking.
