Prime Minister Tarique Rahman visited the traditional Durga Puja pavilion at Jatra Mohan Sen Hall (JM Sen Hall) in Chattogram on Tuesday night. This marks a historic milestone as the first time since independence that a sitting head of government has visited the Durga Puja pavilion at JM Sen Hall.
Accompanied by party leaders and cabinet ministers, the Prime Minister arrived at the pavilion around 8:15 PM on Tuesday. During the visit, he handed over a cheque of Tk 20 lakh to the organizers on behalf of the government.
Earlier in the evening, at 7:40 PM, the Prime Minister landed at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram via a military aircraft from Rajshahi.
He was accompanied by Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, Water Resources Minister Md. Shaheed Uddin Chowdhury Annie, Chattogram Hill Tracts Affairs Minister Saching Prue Jerry, Cultural Affairs Minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury, BNP Standing Committee Member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam, and State Minister for Land and Chattogram Hill Tracts Affairs Mir Mohammad Helal Uddin, among others.
Nikhil Kumar Nath, General Secretary of the Chattogram City Puja Celebration Committee, told Chitra Post, "This is the first time since independence that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, as the head of government, has visited the Durga Puja pavilion at JM Sen Hall. Earlier, in 1993, then-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia had attended a Janmashtami program at this very hall."
Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said, "Today, I stand before you as the Prime Minister of the country to convey this simple message—this country is yours, this country is mine, this country belongs to all of us. Regardless of our religion, our faith is our own..."
