We want peace, not clash: PM

"We want peace, not clash...we want to maintain beautiful environment in the country as expected by all. Our aim is to have a wonderful atmosphere for the Bangalee nation and it could be placed in the dignified position on the world stage," she said.

The Prime Minister said this while inaugurating the birth centenary of legendary artist Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin at the national level at the National Museum. 

Sheikh Hasina said the people of the country irrespective of caste, creed and religion celebrate Pohela Boishakh with fanfare and festivity-it is the everlasting tradition of the Bangalees.

On the other hand, she said, the people of all faiths celebrate their religious festival together. "It is like a union of confidence and the Bangalee nation made it possible and set such an example in the world," she said.

The Ministry of Cultural Affairs arranged the function as part of its yearlong programmes to celebrate the birth centenary of Shilpacharya.

With Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor in the chair, the function was addressed by eminent artist Mustafa Monwar and wife of Zainul Abedin Begum Jahan Ara Abedin.

Eminent educationist Dr Borhanuddin Khan Jahangir gave the memorial lecture, while Secretary of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs Ranjit Kumar Biswas delivered the welcome address.

The Prime Minister also urged artistes, litterateurs and cultural activists to take more effective steps against inhuman behaviour of the people, saying that only culture and heritage could bring about changes in such attitude.

"Militancy has emerged today. The people are being killed in the name of religions....the evil forces in the guise of religions are attacking places of worships. Last year we witnessed how the holy Quran was burnt on the premises of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque and the national mosque was ransacked," she said.

"Only our culture and heritage could bring about changes in the inhuman behaviour of the people. Our artistes, litterateurs and cultural activists will have to take more effective measures. I think they could awaken human values in the thinking of the people by removing hatred mentality," she added.

The Prime Minister also said militancy, fanaticism, intolerance and violence do not match the Bangalee culture.

"Brotherhood, harmony and hospitality among the human beings are ideals of Bangalee nation. The Bangalees may not have much resources, but they can enjoy with whatever little things they have," she said.

The Prime Minister said the main characteristic of the Bangalee culture is non-communalism. "The main word of the Bangalee culture is that there would be unity in human beings by shunning differences of caste and creed. But questions arise in my mind sometimes whether Bangalee nation is being deviated from the mainstream of its culture," she said.

Paying tributes to Shilpacharya, the Prime Minister said the importance of Zoynul Abedin is endless. "He was a genuine artist close to the soil. Like that he was the pioneer of the movement for art and culture," she said.

The Prime Minister said almost all current artists of the country were proud and rich by getting direct and indirect support of Zainul Abedin. "He was turned into a legend for his human quality," she said.

She said Zainul Abedin was not only an artist, he also gave leadership to art and cultural arena in various transition periods of Bangladesh.

"He played a pioneering role in founding the Charu and Karukala Bidyalaya after 1947 which has now been turned into the Faculty of Fine Arts at Dhaka University," she said.

Zainul Abedin, she said, was a very powerful and sensitive artist who never considered arts as matters not related to life. Rather his philosophy was to consider arts as inseparable part of the life, she said.

Sheikh Hasina said the highly gifted artist, Zainul, wanted to develop a beautiful society enriched with culture, tradition and heritage and devoted himself to establishing a coordinated environment for all in his four-decade long artistic life.

He spread his thinking to other cultural activists and his organizational plans have made unique contributions to flourishing the national entity of Bangladesh.

The Prime Minister said the life-oriented and realistic works of the late artist in which he projected various features of the life of mass people, nature and "nabanna", devastation of cyclones and tidal surge, country's war of liberation, nature and famine were well-known to all.

In this context, she also mentioned the paintings of Zainul Abedin titled "Famine of 1943" for which he was acclaimed and universally recognized.

The Prime Minister also described the relationship of late Zainul with the political artist, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, as well as similarities with National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.

"The nation would ever-remember the contribution of Zainul Abedin to flourishing art and culture of Bangladesh as well as national entity of the Bangalees," she said.