Madrasa students will be deployed to provide security during Durga Puja

Religious Affairs adviser Dr AFM Khalid Hossain has said madrasa students will be deployed to guard the temples during the upcoming Durga Puja festival.

He made the remarks while talking to journalists after attending an opinion-sharing meeting with different religious leaders including alems and ulemas organised by the Islamic Foundation in Rajshahi city on Saturday morning.

The Religious Affairs adviser said the interim government would bring normalcy in all sectors. “We will reconstitute the Election Commission to hold a free, fair and impartial election. Then, we will leave after handing over power to an elected government.”

Khalid Hossain said the interim government is not thinking about changing the national anthem. “We will not do anything else that creates controversy.”

Regarding attacks on religious places, Khalid Hossain said, “Attacks on mosques, temples, and shrines are heinous things. Those who attack religious places are the enemies of humanity. They are criminals. They will be tried under the existing laws of the country.”

He said madrasa students will be deployed in front of the temples across the country along with the local people to to gurad those during the upcoming Durga Puja. The madrasa students were not involved in any militant activities in the past. It was the previous government’s conspiracy and propaganda.”

The adviser also said he is scheduled to meet the Religious Affairs minister of Saudi Arabia in the current months where talks will be held on reducing the cost of hajj.

With Rajshahi deputy commissioner (DC) Shamim Ahmed in the chair, the opinion-sharing meeting was attended by Rajshahi Range’s DIG of police Alamgir Rahman, Rajshahi Divisional Office’s local government department’s director Parvez Raihan and Islamic Foundation board of governor Maulana Jamal Uddin Swandipi.

Earlier in the morning, the Religious Affairs adviser visited a model mosque in Poba upazila of Rajshahi. Speaking there, he said the government would consider raising the honoriums of imams and muezzins of mosque who got appointed through the Islamic Foundation.

Then, he visited Katakhali Jamia Usmania Madrasa in Rajshahi city and exchanged opinions with teachers and learners there. He will visit Hazrat Shah Makhdum (RA) Dargah in the afternoon. In the evening, he will exchange opinions with the officials of different government departments at Rajshahi Circuit House.