In a welcoming move, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government has decided to revert to its 1972 Constitution offered by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. Bangladesh junior information minister Murad Hassan said that an amendment will soon be tabled in Parliament and is likely to be passed without any opposition.
After the proposed amendment, Islam will no longer be the state religion of the Muslim majority country.
Islam was made the state religion by a Constitutional amendment during the reign of General HM Ershad in the late 1980s. The ruling Bangladesh Awami League enjoys an absolute majority in Parliament.Therefore, the passage of a fresh amendment may not be difficult. But it is likely to provoke more Islamist radical violence similar to recent attacks that have left five Hindus and four Muslims dead.
"We will soon return to the 1972 secular Constitution that founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave to Bangladesh after Independence," Murad said. "We don't accept Islam as the national religion," news agency UNB quoted Murad as saying.
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