Bangladesh’s Constitution and its Impact on Minorities

• Emphasizes nationalism, democracy, socialism, and secularism.

• Article 41 guarantees freedom of religion for every citizen.

• Desecration of Hindu temples and arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das violate constitutional promises and international human rights law.

• Bangladesh Foreign Ministry’s response indicates violation of minority rights.

• The 20 million minorities in Bangladesh cannot be left at the mercy of the interim government.

• The kind of religious freedom guaranteed by the Bangladesh constitution must be revisited by the interim government.

• Pakistan was created through the two nation theory, not in the name of religion.

• The constitution was amended in 2011 with the 15th amendment, reintroducing the term’secular’.

• The original Bangladesh constitution was secular, but the military dictator Ziaur Rahman removed’secularism’ in 1977 and 1988, introducing Islam as the state religion.

• The High Court and Supreme Court struck down the amendment in 2005 and 2010, stating that the constitution remains secular despite Islam being the state religion.

• Article 2A of the constitution declares Islam as the state religion, but also ensures equal status and rights to other religions.

• Article 8(1) mentions secularism, nationalism, democracy, and socialism as the fundamental principles of state policy.