The 7th International Islam & Liberty Conference: The Islamic - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

A.K.M Iftekharul Islam Department of Islamic History and Culture University of Dhaka Bangladesh

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The 7th International Islam & Liberty Conference: The Islamic Case for Religious Freedom Presentation on Secularism, Islamism and Religious Minorities : the Case of Bangladesh

About Bangladesh

Location: 20°34′-26°38′

NL & 88°01′-92°41′ EL Neighbors:India on west, north & east; Bay

• f Bengal at south, &

Myanmar at Southeast. Area: 147, 570 sq. km. Time-GMT+6

P o p u l a t i o n & R e l i g i o u s Composition: 180 m.

Muslim-89%; Hindu- 10%; & Others-1%. Ethnic Groups: Bengali 98%, other 2%. Capital-Dhaka 8 Divisions; 64 Districts Language: Bangla; English. Independence-1971 Muslim Rule- 1204- 1757 British Rule- 1757- 1947 Pakistani Rule-1947- 1971.

q Bangladesh presents interesting

confrontation between pro-Islamist and pro- secularist people;

q Fluctuations of state policy based on

religion;

q Communal violence continues to widen

driven by political rivalries;

 Islam and advent of Islam in Bengal: Ikhtiyar Uddin

Mohammad bin Bakhtyar Khalji;

 Islamism: ‘political movement that favors reordering

government and society in accordance with laws prescribed by Islam’;

 Islamism in Bangladesh: The Farai’di movement of Haji

Shariat Ullah (1781-1840), the Tariqah-i- Muhammadiya movement of Mir Nisar Ali alias Titu Mir ( 1782-1831) and the Khilafat movement;

 Secularism: secularism is the principle of the separation of

government institutions and persons mandated to represent the state from religious institution and religious dignitaries.

 1972 Constitution and secularism;  Islamiat was made compulsory subject;  Islamic Foundation was founded in March

1975

 Rise of Political Islam;  Order no.1 of 1977 Constitutional change (5th

Amendment) dropped secularism from the Constitution;

 ‘Bismillah-ar-Rahman-ar-Rahim’ is inserted at

the beginning of the Constitution;

 Friday was declared a half-holiday;  Religious parties were permitted to act in the

politics

 Ershad declared Islam as the state religion in

1988;

 Supported the growth of the private

Madrassah system known as ‘the Quomi Madrassah’

 Extremist violence has been a recurring

problem in the country, where religious minorities are intimidated, threatened, assaulted and killed by Islamic extremists’ intent on silencing dissenting voices;

 Religious minorities and ethnic communities

in Bangladesh are also vulnerable to illegal land grabbing

 Implementation of Women and Children

Repression Prevention Act 2000

 Implementation of Vested Property Return Act

2011

 Social consciousness

 Angus Stevenson, Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford University

Press, Oxford, 2010,

 Muhammad Abdur Rahim, Social and Cultural History of Bengal,

Vol.1: 1201-1576, Pakistan Historical Society, Karachi, 1963

 Neerra Chandhoke, Rethinking Pluralism, Secularism and Tolerance,

Sage Publications Ltd., London

 Rounaq Jahan, Pakistan: Failure in National Integration, University

Press Limited, Dhaka, 1972

 Rafiuddin Ahmed, ed., Religion, Nationalism and Politics in

Bangladesh, South Asia Publication, New Delhi, 1990

 R. R. Rozario and S. Uttom , Bangladesh, in M. Kelly (ed.) On the

Edge: Religious Freedom and Persecution across Asia, Hindmarsh, SA, 2016

 Other Journals and Newspapers