2 min readDhakaJul 3, 2011 03:09 AM IST
First published on: Jul 3, 2011 at 03:09 AM IST
Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League favours an “absolute return” to the secular 1972 constitution but certain “realities” forced the government to retain Islam as the state religion,an issue that has sparked an outrage among the religious minorities in the country.
The Parliament on Thursday approved the 15th Amendment Bill 2011 that retained Islam as the state religion and scrapped the controversial nonpartisan caretaker system to conduct general elections in the country.
“We will say ‘no’ if anyone asks us if we are absolutely satisfied with the constitutional amendment…but some realities made it impossible for Awami League to return to the 1972 constitution,” Syed Ashraful Islam,local government minister and Awami League general secretary,told the media today.
The party was not “fully satisfied with the amendment as the Awami League wanted “absolute return” to the original constitution that suggested “secularism” as one of the principles of the nation.
The minister said Islam was retained as the state religion “as a means to show respect to the people’s desire”.
The comments came amid a political row in the country over the issue,with religious minorities,including Hindus,holding a countrywide day-long hunger strike.
Hindu Boudhha Christian Oikya Parishad,a key organisation of religious minorities in Bangladesh,vowed to wage a massive campaign against retaining Islam as the state religion as it was against the secular character of the 1972 constitution.
“We are pushed to a situation where the followers of different religious faiths will abstain from casting their votes in next elections or wage a campaign demanding separate election in reserve seats,” Rana Dasgupta,the General Secretary of the Parishad,told PTI.
“We are deeply disappointed…this has violated our fundamental rights and that is why we are rejecting the amendment,” he said earlier,adding the entire nation wanted the restoration of the spirit of secularism.
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