Religion in Bangladesh
Part of a series on the |
Culture of Bangladesh |
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The
In Bangladesh, there are four major religions;
Prime Minister
The constitution also states that "the State shall ensure equal status and equal right in the practice of the Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and other faiths and religions".[11] "Freedom of religion" is its basic structure guaranteed by Bangladeshi constitution in which it calls for equal rights to all its citizens irrespective of their religious differences and it also bans discrimination on the grounds of religion in various platforms.
Bangladesh is one of the few secular Muslim-majority nations and "
Population by religion
Religion | Population |
---|---|
Muslims | 150,360,405 |
Hindus | 13,130,110 |
Buddhists
|
1,007,468 |
Christians | 495,475 |
Others | 198,190 |
Total | 169,828,921 |
Religions
Islam
The
The
The Muslim community in the
Hinduism
Hinduism is the second largest religious affiliation in Bangladesh, with around 13.1 million people identifying themselves as Hindus out of 165.16 million people and making up about 7.95 per cent of the total population as second largest minority according to the recent 2022 census.[23][14][24] In terms of population, Bangladesh is the third largest Hindu populated country of the world, just after India and Nepal.[25]
Bangladeshi Hindus are predominantly Bengali Hindus, but a distinct Hindu population also exists among the indigenous tribes like Garo, Khasi, Jaintia, Santhal, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Tripuri, Munda, Oraon, Dhanuk etc. Hindus are evenly distributed throughout all regions of Bangladesh, with significant concentrations in northern, southwestern and northeastern parts of the country. In nature, Bangladeshi Hinduism closely resembles the rituals and customs of Hinduism practised in the neighbouring Indian state of
etc. witness jubilant celebrations across various cities, towns and villages of Bangladesh.Buddhism
About 1 million people in Bangladesh adhere to the Theravada school of Buddhism. Buddhists form about 0.63 per cent of the population of Bangladesh as per 2022 census.[26]
In antiquity, the region of present-day Bangladesh was a center of Buddhism in Asia. Buddhist civilisation, including philosophies and architecture, traveled to Tibet, Southeast Asia and Indonesia from Bengal. The Buddhist architecture of Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand, including the Angkor Wat Temple and the Borobudur vihara, are believed to have been inspired by the ancient monasteries of Bangladesh such as the Somapura Mahavihara.
Most of the followers of Buddhism in Bangladesh live in the Chittagong division. Here, Buddhism is practised by the Bengali-speaking
Christianity
Christianity arrived in what is now Bangladesh during the late sixteenth to early seventeenth centuries AD, through the Portuguese traders and missionaries. Christians numbering around half a million account for approximately 0.29 per cent of the total population and they are mostly an urban community.[27] Roman Catholicism is predominant among the Bengali Christians, while the remaining are mostly Baptist and others. Few followers of Christianity are also present among certain indigenous tribal communities such as Garo, Santal, Orao, Chakma, khasi, Lushei, Bawm, etc.
The
Sikhism
The presence of this religion goes back to the visitation of
Judaism
Since the 18th century there have been
By the late 1960s, much of the Jewish community had left for
Other religions
Bangladesh has a small community of the Baháʼí Faith. Baháʼís have spiritual centres in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barisal, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Jessore, Rangamati and other places.
Bangladesh also has a tiny Brahmo Samaj community.
The Jehovah's Witnesses also exist in Bangladesh.
Atheism
A survey, commissioned by WIN-Gallup International, conducted from 5 November 2014, to 25 November 2014, found that fewer than one per cent of Bangladeshi's said they were "convinced Atheists".[34][35]
In Bangladesh several people especially bloggers, secularists, liberals, non-religious, Non-Muslims have been brutally killed by Islamic militants[36][37][38][39][40] for mocking and questioning Islam.[41] Jihadist Islamic militants in the nation are seen as a key challenge by the Bangladeshi authorities. The Islamist ideologies was imported into Bangladesh in the early 1990s by the jihadist returnees of the Soviet–Afghan War, who wanted to turn Bangladesh into a full-fledged Islamic state ruled by the Islamic law or Sharia law with 100 percent Muslim population.[42][43][44][45]
History
Demographic landscape of Bangladesh before partition
Demographic landscape of Bangladesh after Independence from Pakistan (1974)
After 1974, East Pakistan became sovereign nation of People republic of Bangladesh. During that time the population of Bangladesh was found to be 68.7 million, of which majority of 58.7 million people professed to Islamic Faith comprising 85.4% of the country's population, Hindus are second largest community with a population of 9.28 million comprising 13.5% of the country's population, while 1.1% practices other religions like Buddhism and Christianity.[48]
Immigration & refugee crisis
Before the Partition of Bengal, it was found that the Muslim population of West Bengal stood at 26% and the Hindu population of East Bengal stood at 28% respectively. Soon after partition, Muslim population in West Bengal have reduced from 26% in 1941 to 19% in 1951, while Hindu population in East Bengal have reduced from 28% in 1941 to 22% in 1951.Kamal, Nahid (2009). The Population Trajectories of Bangladesh and West Bengal During the Twentieth Century: A Comparative Study (PDF) (PhD). London School of Economics. p. 110. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
During 1971 Bangladesh liberation war
It is estimated that during the time of
Secularism
Aspects and practices of secularism
Bangladesh declared itself a
Main aspects of secular principles
Article 8 of part - (II) described secularism as the fundamental principles of state policy.[54] The main principles of Secularism in the Bangladeshi constitution were described under article 12 of Part- (II)[55] -
12. The principle of secularism shall be realised by the elimination of -
(a)
(b) The granting by the State of political status in favour of any religion;
(c) The abuse of religion for political purposes;
(d) Any discrimination against, or persecution of, persons practicing a particular religion.
Controversy
Islam is the state religion of Bangladesh by article 2A but this article came into direct conflict with the article 12 of part- (II) of 2nd stanza which states that "The state should not grant political status in favour of any religion" as secularism has been defined as one of the four fundamental principles of Bangladesh.[6][55][56] Article (2A) of the constitution also state's that "the state shall ensure equal status and equal right in the practice of the Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and other religions" while giving a special status to Islam which have led to a huge controversy regarding the country's foundation.[57][6] The Supreme Court of Bangladesh on 28 March 2016 upheld the status of Islam as the State religion.[58] The ruling was given by the High Court Division of the court while dismissing a petition which was almost about 28 years ago, filed by Samendra Nath Goswami challenging Islam as the religion of republic which directly contradicts with secular foundation of the nation.[57][56] Petition was also held earlier by Professor Anisuzzaman, one of the leaders of the petitioning organisation who said that Bangladesh was founded as a secular state, and having a state religion contradicts the basic structure of the constitution,".[59][60]
On 14 November 2016 a senior ruling
Recently on 4 July 2021, there was a huge debate going on
In November 2022, Bangladesh Law Minister Anisul Huq have announced that Bangladesh’s Ruling party Awami League is planning to restore country’s Original 1972 Secular Constitution and will soon repeal the Amendment that made It an ‘Islamic’ Nation by scrapping Article 2A and further said that It will be done when the right time comes.[70][71] On 8th January 2023 Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Oikya Parishad have submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, demanding that the ruling Awami League have misused the minority vote and betrayed them severely. The submission of memorandum came after the parishad ended its road march to Capital city from Chittagong. The parishad also staged a protest rally in front of the Dhaka's Ramna Kali Mandir and at that time, Parishad's general secretary Mr. Rana Dasgupta have read out the memorandum saying that, "They have seen from their naked eyes that how the 1972's Secular constitution have got transformed into a communal one and how the state religion Islam (Article 2A) got incorporated in the constitution in the year of 1988 by Military dictatorial President Hussain Muhammad Ershad. He further concluded that "It's not only have divided the people on the basis of religion, but also turned the religious-ethnic minorities of the country into 2nd class citizens. Many religious minority groups have been forced to emigrate due to years of deprivation, discrimination, persecution and oppression by the Islamic state." Later on, the parishad have demanded a ministry formation for the cause of welfare and social upliftment of minority communities.[72][73][74]
On 1st March 2023, Professor
On 30 August 2023, Bangladeshi Politicians, Social activists and lawyers at a discussion in the capital have demanded exact restoration of the 1972 constitution in the country. Inserting Islam as the state religion (Article 2A) in the constitution, have violated the four basic core principles of: nationalism, democracy, socialism and secularism. President Rashed Khan Menon of Workers Party of Bangladesh, a partner of Awami League-led alliance, have demanded the exact restoration of the constitution of 1972 with Its four fundamentals, dropping Islam from state religion status. He further said that by keeping both Secularism and Islam as state religion, the exact restoration of the 72 constitution couldn't be possible. He further call for all the democratic political parties, progressive alliances, civil society to wage movements in support of exact restoration of the 1972 Original Constitution of Bangladesh and that the state should ensure the constitutional rights of every people living in this nation as Citizens.[78]
Law, religion, and religious freedom
Although Bangladesh initially opted for a secular nationalist ideology as embodied in its Constitution, the principle of secularism was subsequently replaced by a commitment to the Islamic way of life through a series of constitutional amendments and government proclamations between 1977 and 1988. During the eighties, the state was designated exclusively Islamic. However, in 2010, the secularism of the 1972 Constitution[79] was reaffirmed.[80] The Government generally respects this provision in practice; however, some members of the Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, and Ahmadiyya communities experience discrimination. The Government (2001-2006), led by an alliance of four parties (Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Oikya Jote and Bangladesh Jatiyo Party) banned the Ahmadiyya literature by an executive order.
Family laws concerning marriage, divorce, and adoption differ depending on the religion of the person involved. There are no legal restrictions on marriage between members of different faiths.
In 2010, secularism was restored, but Islam remains the nominal state religion per Article 12.[11]
In 2022, Freedom House rated Bangladesh’s religious freedom as 2 out of 4.[81]
Further reading
- Benkin, Richard L. (2014). A quiet case of ethnic cleansing: The murder of Bangladesh's Hindus. New Delhi: Akshaya Prakashan.
- Dastidar, S. G. (2008). Empire's last casualty: Indian subcontinent's vanishing Hindu and other minorities. Kolkata: Firma KLM.
- Kamra, A. J. (2000). The prolonged partition and its pogroms: Testimonies on violence against Hindus in East Bengal 1946–64.
- Taslima Nasrin (2014). Lajja. Gurgaon, Haryana, India : Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd, 2014.
- Rosser, Yvette Claire. (2004) Indoctrinating Minds: Politics of Education in Bangladesh, New Delhi: Rupa & Co. ISBN 8129104318.
- Mukherji, S. (2000). Subjects, citizens, and refugees: Tragedy in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, 1947-1998. New Delhi: Indian Centre for the Study of Forced Migration.
- Sarkar, Bidyut (1993). Bangladesh 1992: This is our home: Sample Document of the Plight of our Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Tribal Minorities in our Islamized Homeland: Pogroms 1987–1992. Bangladesh Minority Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, (and Tribal) Unity Council of North America.
See also
- Bengali Muslims
- Bengali Hindus
- Bengali Buddhists
- Bengali Christians
- Folk deities of Sylhet
- Freedom of religion in Bangladesh
- 1991 Bangladesh census
- 2001 Bangladesh census
- 2011 Bangladesh census
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