Freedom of religion in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a secular state but Islam is its state religion.[1] Freedom of religion is guaranteed by its constitution in which it gives equal rights to all citizens irrespective of religion. The major religion in Bangladesh is Islam (90.5%), but a significant percentage of the population adheres to Hinduism (8.5%).[2] Other religious groups include Buddhists 0.6%, (mostly Theravada), Christians (0.3%, mostly Roman Catholics), and Animists (0.1%).[note 1] Bangladesh was founded as a secular state, but Islam was made the state religion in the 1980s. But in 2010, the High Court held up the secular principles of the 1972 constitution.[5] The High Court also strengthened its stance against punishments by Islamic edict (fatwa), following complaints of brutal sentences carried out against women by extra-legal village courts.[6]

Status of religious freedom

The Constitution establishes Islam as the state religion but also states that other religions can be practised in harmony.[7] Islamic law plays a role in civil matters pertaining to the Muslim community; however, there is no formal implementation of Islamic law, and it is not imposed on non-Muslims. Family law has separate provisions for Muslims, Hindus, and Christians. Family laws concerning marriage, divorce, and adoption differ depending on the religious beliefs of the people involved. For example, under the Muslim family ordinance females inherit less and have fewer divorce rights than men.[8] The jail code makes allowances for the observance of religious festivals by prisoners, including access to extra food for feast days or permission for religious fasting.[8] In 2010, the High Court held up the secular principles of the 1972 constitution.[5][9] The High Court also strengthened its stance against punishments by Islamic edict (fatwa), following complaints of brutal sentences carried out against women by extra-legal village courts.[6]

In 2011, the government passed the Religious Welfare Trust (Amendment) Act, which provides funding for the newly formed Christian Religious Welfare Trust as per the Christian Religious Welfare Trust Ordinance of 1983.[10] In 2011 the government also passed the Vested Property Return Act, which enables the potential return for property seized from the country's Hindu population.[11] In 2012, the government passed the Hindu Marriage Registration Act, which provides the option for Hindus to register their marriages with the government. The aim of this bill was to protect the rights of Hindu women, whose rights are not protected under religious marriage.[12] In 2013, Supreme Court deregistered the Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist political party, for violating the constitution, thereby banning it from participating in elections. However, the ban was not enforced in practice.[13]

Education

Religious studies are compulsory and part of the curriculum in all government schools. Students attend classes in which their own religious beliefs are taught. Schools with few students from minority religious groups are generally allowed to make arrangements with local churches or temples to hold religious studies classes outside of school hours.[14]

The government operates training academies for imams, and monitors the content of religious education in Islamic religious schools, or madrassahs, and announced its intention to make changes to the curriculum, including modernising and mainstreaming the content of religious education.[14]

There are tens of thousands of madrassahs, some of which are funded by the Government. However, there were two types of madrassahs in the country: Qaumi and Alia. Qaumi madrassahs operated outside of the government's purview. Therefore, Alia madrassahs received support and curriculum oversight from the government whereas Qaumi madrassahs did not.[14]

Persecution
See also: Human rights in Bangladesh

Persecution of Chakma Buddhists
Main articles: Persecution of Buddhists, Persecution of Chakma people, and 2012 Ramu violence

Persecution of Hindus
Main articles: 1971 Bangladesh genocide, Operation Searchlight, and Persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh

List of massacres targeted at Hindus and Buddhists minorities, mainly by radical Islamist and Razakar:

In 2016 violence over blasphemy accusations lead to the destruction of 15 temples and 100 homes though authorities suggest only 8 temples and 22 houses were damaged.[15] According to the BJHM report in 2017 alone, at least 107 people of the Hindu community were killed and 31 fell victims to enforced disappearance 782 Hindus were either forced to leave the country or threatened to leave. Besides, 23 were forced to get converted into other religions. At least 25 Hindu women and children were raped, while 235 temples and statues vandalized during the year. The total number of atrocities happened with the Hindu community in 2017 is 6474.[16] During the 2019 Bangladesh elections, eight houses belonging to Hindu families on fire in Thakurgaon alone.[17]

Persecution of Christians

Bangladesh is number 41 on the World Watch List for religious persecution of Christians, between UAE and Algeria.[18]

In 2016, four people were murdered for their Christian faith.[19] The growing Christian population is met by growing persecution.[20]

Persecution of Ahmadis
Main articles: Persecution of Ahmadis in Bangladesh and Ahmadiyya in Bangladesh

Ahmadis have been targeted by various protests and acts of violence, and fundamentalist Islamic groups have demanded that Ahmadis be officially declared kafirs (infidels).[21][22][23]

Persecution of atheists
See also: Persecution of atheists in Bangladesh, Discrimination against atheists in Bangladesh, and Religion in Bangladesh § Atheism

Several Bangladeshi atheists have been assassinated, and a "hit list" exists issued by the Bangladeshi Islamic organisation, the Ansarullah Bangla Team. Activist atheist bloggers are leaving Bangladesh under threat of assassination.[24][25]

Notes
  1. Estimates vary. The International Religious Freedom Report for 2015 reports that according to the 2011 census, "Sunni Muslims constitute 90 percent of the total population, and Hindus 9.5 percent. The remainder of the population is predominantly Christian (mostly Roman Catholic) and Theravada-Hinayana Buddhist."[3] The World Factbook gives a 2013 estimate of "Muslim 89.1%, Hindu 10%, other 0.9% (includes Buddhist, Christian)"[4]
gollark: It also probably serves as load balancing since the computers of this time were worse.
gollark: But as long as one person did the network could work across them.
gollark: Most people did not have access to intercontinental or really long distance links IIRC.
gollark: The networks of the time just wouldn't make it practical to have everyone connect to one server somewhere like we can now.
gollark: Nope.

References
  1. "Bangladesh court upholds Islam as religion of the state". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  2. "Bangladesh: Country Profile". Bangladesh Buruae of Educational Information and Statistics. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  3. "Bangladesh 2015 International Religious Freedom Report" (PDF). United States Department of State. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
  4. "Bangladesh: People and Society". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
  5. Verdict paves way for secular democracy. The Daily Star. 30 July 2010. Retrieved on 22 August 2010.
  6. Andrew Buncombe (11 July 2010). "Bangladeshi court outlaws fatwa punishments". The Independent. London. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  7. "Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh" (PDF). University of Minnesota. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  8. "Bangladesh". US State Department Report on Religion Freedom. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  9. "Bangladesh SC declares illegal amendment allowing religion in politics". The Hindu.
  10. "Christian welfare trust fund raised,". BD News.
  11. "Bangladesh". US State Department Religious Freedom Report 2011.
  12. "Hindu marriage registration law passed". /bdnews24.com.
  13. "Bangladesh". US State Department International Religious Freedom Report 2013.
  14. "Bangladesh". US State Department International Religious Freedom Report 2013.
  15. "Hindu Temples and Homes in Bangladesh Are Attacked by Muslim Crowds". 2 November 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
  16. https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2018/01/06/bjhm-107-hindus-killed-31-forcibly-disappeared-2017
  17. https://www.thestatesman.com/world/hindu-houses-under-arson-attack-ahead-of-bangladesh-elections-1502720217.html
  18. "World Watch List - Countries Where Christianity is Illegal & Oppressed". Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  19. "Historical churches are facing increased persecution in Bangladesh". www.opendoorsuk.org. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  20. "Thousands of Muslims Converting to Christianity in Bangladesh Despite Rising Persecution". Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  21. Rahman, Waliur. "Violent Dhaka rally against sect". BBC News. 23 December 2005.
  22. "Bangladesh: The Ahmadiyya Community – their rights must be protected". Amnesty International. 22 April 2004.
  23. Bangladesh: Bomber Attacks a Mosque, New York Times, 26 December 2015
  24. Writer, Staff (30 May 2015). "'You'll be next': Bangladeshi blogger gets death threat on Facebook". Times of India. Kolkata: The times of India.
  25. "Al-Qaeda branch claims responsibility for murder of writer-blogger Avijit Roy: Rab, police doubt reported claim". The Daily Star. Transcom Group. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  • United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Bangladesh: International Religious Freedom Report 2007. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Further reading
  • Benkin, Richard L. (2014). A quiet case of ethnic cleansing: The murder of Bangladesh's Hindus. New Delhi: Akshaya Prakashan.
  • Dastidar, S. G. (2008). Empire's last casualty: Indian subcontinent's vanishing Hindu and other minorities. Kolkata: Firma KLM.
  • Kamra, A. J. (2000). The prolonged partition and its pogroms: Testimonies on violence against Hindus in East Bengal 1946-64.
  • Taslima Nasrin (2014). Lajja. Gurgaon, Haryana, India : Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd, 2014.
  • Rosser, Yvette Claire. (2004) Indoctrinating Minds: Politics of Education in Bangladesh, New Delhi: Rupa & Co. ISBN 8129104318.
  • Mukherji, S. (2000). Subjects, citizens, and refugees: Tragedy in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, 1947-1998. New Delhi: Indian Centre for the Study of Forced Migration.
  • Sarkar, Bidyut (1993). Bangladesh 1992 : This is our home : Sample Document of the Plight of our Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Tribal Minorities in our Islamized Homeland : Pogroms 1987-1992. Bangladesh Minority Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, (and Tribal) Unity Council of North America.
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