Great news
Media has reported that our dear old friend and champion of the poor, Yunus has assumed leadership of Bangladesh. I join the millions to wish him success in restoring the freedom rights of his compatriots and moving his great country forward. Hopefully, this country will become a beacon of liberty for all Islamic countries. Baquer
Media has reported that our dear old friend and champion of the poor, Yunus has assumed leadership of Bangladesh. I join the millions to wish him success in restoring the freedom rights of his compatriots and moving his great country forward. Hopefully, this country will become a beacon of liberty for all Islamic countries. Baquer
Many thanks for your good wishes, Baquer Jaan. I have submitted a write up in our blog on the crisis in Bangladesh. Would like to hear your comments when it's published.
ReplyDeleteBangladesh, by the way, was formed as a secular country where the majority of the population practice Islam (moderate muslims). In 1971, when the country got liberation, secularism was chosen as one of the 4 pillars to guide the policies of the nation.
Background in a nutshell:
"Bangladesh's parliament declared Islam the state religion on June 9, 1988, when it passed the eighth constitutional amendment and added Article 2A. Military dictator Hussain Muhammad Ershad made the declaration in an attempt to gain support from right-wing voters during a campaign to remove him from power. Many MPs were unable to oppose the amendment due to Article 70 of the Constitution, which prohibits them from voting against their party.
In 2011, Article 2A was amended to state that Islam is the state religion, but that the state must also ensure equal status and rights for the practice of other religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. In 2016, a court upheld Islam as the state religion, but legal action to remove it has been revived.
At present it states:
"The constitution designates Islam as the state religion but upholds the principle of secularism. It prohibits religious discrimination and provides for equality for all religions. Family law, enforced in secular courts, contains separate provisions for different religious groups."
I admire and respect the efforts to maintain the principle of a secular state and the rule of no discrimination regarding religion. I however think it is very difficult to maintain that equality under the law the moment that distinctions are made in any respect whether it may be religion, gender, nationality, minority, region, sect, birth, etc. Either we are all equal or are not. They greys in between tend to distort the intention of the law itself
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