Bangladeshis are non-communal

Recently we have seen fierce political violence throughout the country. We have also witnessed organised attacks on minority communities. Whenever I sat before television, I heard hateful comments of our politicians against each other. This situation repeats every five years in this country and the trend will continue if we do not change ourselves.
But after the death of Suchitra Sen, we found a completely new picture, though it was for a very short period. Amazingly, leaders of both the ruling and opposition parties expressed their grief and respect for the iconic figure of Bangla cinema. Who says that we are communal? Same was the outlook after the death of Nelson Mandela. But unfortunately, Humayun Ahmed did not get any posthumous tribute from the people and leaders of West Bengal, which he deserved.
One thing is very clear that we Bangladeshis are basically broadminded and we do not hesitate to express our love for any person we like. We must maintain this spirit in order to brighten our image in the outside world.
Pradip Das
On e-mail