President Hamid seeks to spread Bangladesh's heritage of communal harmony

President Md Abdul Hamid has asked all, especially cultural activists, to continue their efforts to spread Bangladesh's heritage of communal harmony.

He made the call while addressing the awards ceremony of Shilpakala Padak 2016 at the Shilpakala Academy on Thursday.

"People across the globe are worried over the recent incidents of terrorism and militancy…we'll have to inspire our children, teens, and youths with the non-communal spirit of Liberation War to keep them away from the poison of radicalism, cummunalism, terrorism and militancy," the president said.

"We'll have to let them know that militancy and communalism has no place on our soil where people from various religions and races are living in peace and harmony for a thousand years.

"Communal harmony is our sacred heritage. We'll have to uphold this tradition together. I strongly believe cultural activities can play an important role in building a modern, progressive and creative nation out of our next generation," Hamid added.

At the function, he handed the medals and certificates of Shilpakala Padak 2016 to seven cultural activists.

Mita Haque received the award in music category, Kalidas Karmakar in arts, Pandit Pabitra Mohan Dey in instrumental music, Md Golam Mostafa Khan in dance, Golam Mustafa in photography, Sirajuddin Khan Pathan in folk culture, and Jamil Ahmed in dramatics.

They also received Tk 100,000 each with the award.