Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen has proposed to host a religious freedom ministerial at the regional level in Bangladesh soon.

He put forward the proposal at the second ministerial to “Advance Religious Freedom” at the State Department Thursday, says a media release.

“We stand proud today with the USA to ensure that people of any belief can live a life with human dignity and free from any fear of persecution or hatred,” Momen said in his statement.

He recognised the fact that millions of people around the globe are degraded, demonised and persecuted because of their religious orientation.

The foreign minister called for inculcating a mindset of tolerance and mutual respect among different religions and races to achieve sustainable peace and stability across the world.

A new law has been enacted in Bangladesh to prevent provocation, incitement and hate speech against any religion to maintain communal harmony, social cohesion, and peaceful coexistence, he said.

Madrasah education is being modernized and the government has allocated around $900 million this year for this purpose, he added.

Characterising Bangladesh as a land of humanity, Momen said when Rohingyas were subjected to genocidal atrocities in Myanmar and crossed over to Bangladesh to save their lives, Bangladesh provided shelter to them regardless of their faith and dealt with the situation in humanitarian ways.

On the role of media in promoting religious freedom, he said the media and use of modern technology are two important tools for promoting religious freedom in the present day world. “Unfortunately, we often see that both the tools are adversely used to stifle religious freedom.”

Momen regretted that media is often seen to propagate hate and intolerance that threatens peace and stability and creates animus division among different religious sects.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered the keynote statement at the ministerial. Foreign ministers, ministers and leaders of the delegations from different countries attended the event.