Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council will hold a grand rally today in the capital's Suhrawardy Udyan.

"It will be the first and hopefully the largest gathering of minority and indigenous communities to demand their political and civil rights in the country's history," said Rana Dasgupta, general secretary of the council, at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters' Unity yesterday.

Different organisations representing minority communities would coordinate to make the event at 1:00pm a success, he added.

"The programme is organised to press home the demands to protect the existence of religious and ethnic minorities," he said.

Rana Dasgupta, also a prosecutor at the International Crimes Tribunal, slammed the state for not taking initiatives to end the persecution of minorities.