Bangladesh considering abandoning Islam as its official religion following wake of extremist attacks
- Supreme Court is considering dropping Islam as country's state religion
- The move is being backed by leaders of minority faiths in the country
- It comes after a string of terror attacks against Hindus and Christians
- But Bangladesh government insist terror attacks are not the work of ISIS
Bangladesh
could drop Islam as the country's official religion following a string
of extremist attacks against people of other faiths.
The
supreme court in the South Asia nation has began to hear arguments
which challenge Islam's status as the official state religion.
It
comes after a spate of attacks against people of other religions such
as Hindus, Christians, and minorities Shi'ites, which have been blamed
on Islamic extremists.
Demonstrators protest against an
extremist-related attack in Bangladesh. The country is now considering
dropping Islam as the state religion
When Bangladesh was formed in 1971 after the nation split from Pakistan, it was declared a secular state.
However, in 1988 the country's constitution was amended with Islam declared as the state religion.
But this is now being disputed as illegal in the latest court battle and is being supported by religious minority leaders.
Meanwhile
the US has also warned that ISIS is stepping up recruitment in
Bangladesh, even though the government says the extremist problems are
home grown.
There have been a spate of attacks
against people of other religions such as Hindus, Christians, and
minorities Shi'ites, which have been blamed on Islamic extremists
One Bangladesh police official told Breitbart: 'We have made arrests on each and every so-called ISIS-claimed attack.
'The
attackers have confessed their crimes in court. They have also
confessed being a Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh member, and denied any
linkage with ISIS.'
However an American director of National Intelligence has insisted attacks were the work of terrorist groups.
An injured man is carried on a
stretcher after a terror attack which saw a publisher of secular books
hacked to death in Bangladesh
A man lies injured after a Bangladesh
terror attack. An American director of National Intelligence has
insisted attacks were the work of terrorist groups
In
a written testimony to the U.S. Senate James Clapper noted the claims
of responsibility from ISIS for 11 high profile attacks on foreigners
and religious minorities, and claims from the Ansarullah Bangla Team and
al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent for killing at least 11 progressive
writers and bloggers in Bangladesh since 2013.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has been in political ferment since the run-up to January 2014 elections.
They
were boycotted by opposition parties, and over war crimes prosecutions
brought against Jamaat-e-Islami leaders over alleged involvement in
atrocities during Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence.
Muslims
make up some 90 percent of Bangladesh’s population, while Hindus
account for 8 percent and other religions—including Buddhism and
Christianity—make up the rest.
