Bangladesh court considers revoking Islam's state religion status

The high court division of Bangladesh’s Supreme Court began hearing arguments on Feb. 29 over whether or not Islam can remain the South Asian country’s official religion.

From the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 until a constitutional amendment made Islam the state religion in 1988, the nation was secular. During those years, multiculturalism and interfaith harmony was typical, said Emily Fuentes, communications director for Open Doors USA.

Although Bangladesh has seen less persecution than its neighbors, people of different religions had greater freedom before Islam was given preeminent status, Fuentes said.

“When a state officially accepts a state religion, then it puts barricades for communal harmony because it recognizes supremacy of a particular religion and makes other religions inferior,” Bishop Bejoy N. D’Cruze of Sylhet told UCA News. D’Cruze, chairman of the Catholic bishops’ Christian Unity and Interreligious Dialogue Commission, found hope in the court hearing.

The petition under consideration at the Supreme Court originally was filed in 1988 by 15 prominent Bangladeshis, including a Supreme Court judge, professors, and writers, who challenged the change to the constitution, according to BDNews24.com.

This year’s long-delayed hearing follows a rise in attacks on religious minorities. Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists are all minority groups in the majority-Muslim country, which is battling a rise in Islamic extremism.

Almost exactly a year ago, extremists attacked atheist Bangladeshi-American blogger Avijit Roy and hacked him to death with machetes in the streets of Dhaka. Islamic militants also were suspects in a December bomb and gun attack at a Hindu temple that injured nine people, Reuters reported.

Several Protestant ministers, Catholic priests, and Christian workers in Bangladesh received death threats in late November, warning they would be beheaded by Christmas, UCANews reported.

“This time our plan is to kill one by one all those who are preaching Christianity in Bangladesh. Our country will be run only under Islamic laws,” one letter read.

A group claiming to be connected to Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for shooting Italian priest Piero Parolari on Nov. 18, while other pastors and priests narrowly escaped attacks on their lives in recent months.

But Bangladeshi officials say ISIS is not perpetrating the acts of violence.

“Even if they claim it isn’t ISIS, I think we believe it is the influence of ISIS, and whether or not they acknowledge it, the region has [Islamic] groups who’ve sworn allegiance to ISIS,” Fuentes said.

The attacks have raised popular support for the court to reject Islam as the official religion, at least among Bengali Muslims and religious minorities. Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance, the Bangladesh Christian Association, and other groups support a return to secularism, UCA News reported.

“It’s interesting because this initiative is coming from the general population and more Muslims are promoting this,” Fuentes said. “The religious groups are thankful because it would mean less persecution.”