(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced her support for retaining Islam as the state religion in the Bengali constitution, relinquishing articles in 1972 constitution about the secular nature of the state.
The government would like “Bismillah Rahman-ur-Rahim; meaning ‘In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate’,” retained, Sheikh Hasina told a special parliamentary committee formed to study changes in the constitution in the light of Supreme Court verdicts on Monday.
Hasina’s aids explained that the decision was issued as the ethos of the majority of the population could not be ignored.
Bangladesh is the world's third-largest Muslim majority nation with a population of some 148 million.
The country has a secular legal system but in matters related to inheritance and marriage Muslims follow Sharia`h.
The secular notions of the country were first enshrined in 1972 constitution drafted under the leadership of the country's founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina's father. Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in August 1975.
Subsequent military-ruled governments incorporated religious expressions, amending the constitution and issuing a series of rules between 1975 and 1990.
In two separate judgments, the court last year declared these entire changes void and asked that the constitution be restored to its original 1972 form.
Taking a new departure from the 1972 constitution, Hasina said that the Arabic phrase Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim will remain above the preamble of the constitution.
Moreover, its Bangla translation will be added. A new phrase would also be added saying that all other religions may be practiced in peace in the country.
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