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Govt believes in secularism: PM

22 April 2010, 18:00 PM

METROPOLITAN

Unb, Dhaka

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday expressed her and her government's strong commitment to ensuring religious freedoms and the dignity of each and every person, asserting her present government's belief in secularism does not preclude religion. “Secularism does not mean not believing in religion,” Hasina said while chairing the first meeting of the National Council for Women and Children Development (NCWCD) at the Prime Minister's Office. She said everyone is fully free to practise his or her religion with dignity, adding that her government will try its best to maintain freedom of expression and the freedom to practise whatever faith one chooses. Focusing on the core theme of the meeting, Hasina directed the Women and Children's Welfare Ministry, as well as other ministries and departments concerned to form a committee and chalk out a holistic plan for rehabilitating all the street children. Hasina said the working women will have to be provided with safe accommodation, while day-care centers need to be set up in all offices to facilitate a tension-free working atmosphere for them. She called strongly for the eradication of trafficking in women and children, and the use of children in peddling drugs. Hasina stressed the need for setting up offices of the Jatiya Mahila Sangstha (National Women Organisation) at every upazila for the betterment of women, as it now has branches in 50 upazilas only. She laid special emphasis on helping the disabled women and children with disabilities.