POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Nov 17, 2022 : Inspired by the message of Islam, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged everyone to eradicate darkness, illiteracy, discord, violence, terrorism and militancy from the society as well as resist the evil forces that misinterpret Islam. He said, let us all take the message of Islam to heart and eradicate darkness, illiteracy, discord, violence, terrorism and militancy from the society. Resist the evil forces that are misinterpreting Islam.
He said this while inaugurating the national level Hajj and Umrah Management Conference and Hajj and Umrah Fair at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) on Thursday.
Attending the program virtually from Ganobhaban, Sheikh Hasina said, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has done a lot for Islam in the country and as his successor, the government is working tirelessly for the development of Islam and the people.
Islam is the best religion in the world. But pointing out that this holy religion is facing criticism due to some terrorists, he said, to keep the country free from militancy and uphold the peaceful glory of holy Islam, we have adopted zero tolerance policy against militancy and involved the scholars and ulama. Imams of mosques are being trained by involving religious leaders in human resource development. Through the Islamic Foundation, we have arranged to teach Quran to millions of children under mosque-based children and mass education programs.
The Prime Minister said, with the formation of the government in 2009, we restarted the closed mosque-based children and public education program with Tk 643.55 million. Currently, the allocation of this project has increased to two thousand 272 crore four lakh taka. We are implementing a project to build a total of 564 model mosques and Islamic cultural centers in each district and upazila of Bangladesh at a cost of Tk 9,435 crore.
Various Hajj and financial organizations and concerned authorities have set up around 150 stalls and pavilions at the three-day Hajj and Umrah fair. The fair will be open for pilgrims from 10 am to 8 pm daily.
State Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism. Mahbub Ali, Minister of State for Religious Affairs. Faridul Haque Khan, Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Kazi Enamul Hasan, Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Isa Bin Yusuf Al-Dahilan and Hub President Md. Shahadat Hossain Taslim also addressed the opening ceremony.
Bangladesh is the fourth largest pilgrim sending country in the world. More than 90 percent of Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims and 100 percent Umrah pilgrims go to Saudi Arabia under private management.
