Dhaka, Feb 22 (V7N) - Former Cultural Affairs Adviser to the interim government Mostofa Sarwar Farooki has said that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is clearly following the path of former President Ziaur Rahman.

In a Facebook status posted on Saturday (February 21), Farooki wrote that he had long heard claims suggesting Tarique Rahman was no longer aligned with Ziaur Rahman’s political philosophy. “But after becoming Prime Minister, I have seen that he is clearly walking in President Ziaur Rahman’s path,” he stated.

Referring to a historical photograph from 1953, Farooki said he had recently received an annotated version of the image showing people offering prayers after a Prabhat Feri (mourning procession). He noted that the Prime Minister offered prayers at the Shaheed Minar the previous day, drawing a parallel with the historical image.

Farooki explained that Ziaur Rahman’s path represents building a republic where religious identity and practices are not concealed, while embracing a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and multilingual society. He wrote that in such a republic, citizens can lay flowers at the Shaheed Minar, offer prayers if they wish, or sing “Amar Bhaiyer Rokte Rangano” — all without serving any hegemonic purpose.

He further questioned why anyone would attempt to erase such acts of prayer from Bangladesh’s collective memory, suggesting that the politics behind this issue has contributed to several cultural tensions in the country.

END/AJ/RH/