Bangladesh: Minister Calls For Strengthening Of Cultural Activities To Root Out Militancy

15 April 2010

Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad Tuesday stressed the need for strengthening cultural activities including the Pahela Baishakh (Bengali New Year) for rooting out fundamentalism and militancy from the country.

"A powerful culture can be a tool to combat militancy and fundamentalism," he said while speaking at a views exchange meeting with the cultural personalities on Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bangla New Year 1417 in the city.

Referring to Pakistan where militancy has taken a serious turn, Azad said people of all walks of life would have to work from respective fields to combat militancy.

"We have achieved the political freedom through the War of Liberation in 1971 under Bangabandhu's leadership but economic freedom has not been achieved yet," said the minister.

Azad described the Bangla culture as a pride for the Bangali nation and said for the first time Pahela Baishakh is being celebrated across the country at the state level under the initiative of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The government took a step to have a link the Bangla culture with the traditional culture, said Advocate Promad Mankin, terming it as epoch-making step. He said steps were taken to enact law to turn all cultural centres of aboriginal into government institutions.

Publishers on the occasion voiced together for increasing allocation of the ministry for cultural affairs to purchase more books by the ministry.

Source: Bangladesh Today