Online Desk: Christmas, the biggest religious festival of the Christians community, will be celebrated in the country as elsewhere across the world on Monday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ.

Christmas is the celebration of rebirth, a new beginning, forgiveness and peace, and renewing relationship with God and human beings.

Decoration of Christmas trees with colourful lights, special prayers, and distribution of gifts among children and exchange of pleasantries are the main features of the day’s festivities.
Christmas carols and hymns will be sung before and after the prayer sessions at the churches on the day.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages on the occasion.

The President will host a reception at Bangabhaban on the occasion.

Archbishop of Bangladesh, ambassadors and representatives from different foreign missions, distinguished persons of the Christian community, religious leaders and professionals will join the reception.
A group of singers will perform the Christmas carol at the reception.

Later, President Shahabuddin will cut a Christmas cake with members of the Christian community.

Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar and different private TV channels and radio stations will air special programmes highlighting the significance of the day.

The day is a public holiday. The national dailies will publish special articles marking Christmas.

In his message, President Shahabuddin said Bangladesh is a country of communal harmony.

“People of all religions have been performing their respective religious rituals freely for long. Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman dreamt of building a non-communal Bangladesh.”

The President called upon all to work together to materialize the dream of the Father of the Nation and build a happy, prosperous and ‘Smart Bangladesh’ declared by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her message, said “One of the goals of Jesus Christ was to establish justice and peace in the world . . . Great Christ had sacrificed himself for the endangered and starving people and he remains immortal in the human history for his lifestyle and strict characteristic,” she mentioned.
She also called upon all to work together to build a ‘Smart Bangladesh’ to build a hunger-poverty-free, non-communal ‘Sonar Bangladesh’ as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.