No plan to change Bangladesh's national anthem, says Muhammad Yunus's Advisor
Dhaka (PTI): There is no plan to change the national anthem of Bangladesh, the country's Religious Affairs Advisor AFM Khalid Hossain said on Saturday.
“The interim government will not do anything to create controversy,” Hossain told the media after visiting the Islamic Foundation in Rajshahi and attending a gathering of dignitaries.
This comes after Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, the son of former Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ghulam Azam, earlier this week called for a change in the country's national anthem and Constitution.
He said: "I leave the matter of the national anthem to this government. The current national anthem we have is contrary to the existence of our independent Bangladesh. It reflects the time of the Bengal partition and the merging of the two Bengals. How can an anthem created to unite the two Bengals become the national anthem of an independent Bangladesh? This anthem was imposed on us by India in 1971. Many songs could serve as a national anthem. The government should form a new commission to select a new national anthem."
Hossain said Bangladesh, as a neighbouring country, wants a friendly relationship with India.
“We have heard reports of attacks on our cricket team in India. Since the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is in charge, they will decide on the necessary course of action,” Dhaka Tribune quoted the advisor as saying.
Terming attacks on mosques, temples, and shrines as "heinous", Hossain said: “Those who attack places of worship are enemies of humanity. They are criminals, and they will be prosecuted under existing laws.”
Hossain further said local citizens as well as madrasa students will guard temples during the Durga Puja to prevent any attack or sabotage.
“Madrasa students were never involved in terrorism. That was propaganda and conspiracy by the previous government.” The advisor said that after the change in government, there had been attacks on the houses of some members of the Hindu community just as Muslim houses were attacked and this should not be viewed differently.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
