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BSS-42
MOSQUE-RIVER-MEETING
Mosques, temples won’t be evicted from riverbanks: Khalid
DHAKA, Feb 19, 2020 (BSS) – State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury today said the government is working to build religious institutions along the riverbanks in a planned way by keeping all sides of the rivers open.
The religious institutions along the riverbanks are linked with sentiment, the state minister said adding that he discussed with Islamic thinkers, alems and masaeks in this regard.
“We don’t want to evict these institutions,” he said at a high-level inter-ministerial meeting at the ministry’s conference room.
Shipping Senior Secretary Md Abdus Samad, Religious Affairs Secretary Md Nurul Islam, Director General of Islamic Foundation Anis Mahmud, Additional Secretary of the Local Government Division Kazi Ashraf Uddin, Chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Commodore Golam Sadek, and representatives from the Finance Division, Rajuk and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) were present at the meeting.
Dhaka city has a glorious heritage as a city of mosque, Khalid said, adding that the government is keen to enrich this legacy.
The state minister said the government has been working in the last one year to recover the occupied riverbanks, check river pollution and ensure safe environment for the city dwellers.
There are a total of 113 unauthorized religious and educational establishments on the banks of four rivers – Buriganga, Turag, Balu, Shitalakshya and Doleshari.
BSS/PR/KAK/MRI/KU/1925 HRS