Today is the Christmas Day, the birthday of Jesus Christ, first-century Jewish preacher and prophet of God.
The Christians of different groups in Bangladesh elsewhere across the world will celebrate the day amid festivity and religious fervour.
They will celebrate the day by offering special prayers, illuminating churches and installing makeshift Christmas trees at homes and places of worship and missions across the country.
Elderly people of the community, attired in the outfit of Santa Claus, usually make fun with children and distribute gifts among kids as part of a universal Christian practice.
But due to the pandemic COVID-19, the day will be celebrated in a limited scale maintaining health rules, including maintaining social distancing and wearing masks everywhere.
The day is a public holiday.
President M Abdul Hamid, prime minister Sheikh Hasina and opposition leader in the parliament Begum Rowshan Ershad, in separate messages, greeted members of the Christian community on the occasion.
They called upon the members of the Christians community to celebrate the holy day maintaining the health rules due to the outbreak of the second spell of the fatal disease Coronavirus that struck many world countries including Bangladesh.
In his message, President Hamid called upon countrymen to abide by the health rules to win the ongoing war coincided with the pandemic Coronavirus.
He said Bangladesh is a shining example of communal harmony in the world and people of the country have been observing their respective religions, rituals and ceremonies independently for long.
About Jesus Christ’s contribution to the society, Hamid said Jesus taught people in a peaceful position with love, compassion, forgiveness, affection, empathy and the establishment of justice.
‘In the afterlife, Jesus Christ put emphasis on the importance of spiritual happiness through renunciation, restraint, and charity,’ he opined.
President Hamid thought that the teachings and ideals of Jesus Christ are very relevant in establishing peace and harmony in a troubled-torn world, including the establishment of harmony and unity among nations.
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