High Court Verdict: Islam As State Religion in Bangladesh Will Stay

Bangladesh Supreme Court building, where the High Court is housed, in Dhaka

Photo courtesy: AFP

Bangladesh High Court on March 28, 2016, rejected a writ petition that was submitted for removing Islam as the state religion in the 90%-Muslim-majority country. It means that Islam as the state religion of Bangladesh will continue.

A 15-member secularist activist group – having lawyers, university professors, writers and journalists – had filed the petition in 1988 challenging the status of Islam as the state religion in the country, which in December of 1971 had emerged as an independent but secular country from Islam-oriented Pakistan. They argued that the state religion conflicted with the Bangladesh’s secular character and discriminated against religious minorities. 

Only in June, 2011 did the court take up the case when the petitioners filled a supplementary plea challenging the status. The court then asked the government why the special status of Islam should not be scrapped. But the decision was further adjourned and the verdict was given on March 28 this year. In the same year of 2011, Sheikh Hasina’s government amended the country’s constitution and added “secularism” in it but retained Islam as the state religion. 

It is to be noted that military ruler President Ziaur Rahman came to power in the mid-1970s. To appease Muslim countries like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Libya and some others, he allowed important leaders of the banned Jamaat-i-Islam party  to return to the country from Pakistan and participate in politics. In 1977, with an amendment, he erased secularism from the country’s constitution. Another military ruler and President, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, made Islam as the state religion bringing a constitutional amendment.

In 1988, when the Ershad government was preparing to make Islam as the state religion, religious minorities, including Christians, were apprehensive of the outcomes and repercussions on them because of their second-class status after enjoying equal status with the Muslims since the 1971 independence. 

At the latest verdict of March 28, the religious minorities feel let down in the face of increasing deadly attacks on them (Protestant pastor Rev. Luke Sarker in Pabna District, Italian Catholic priestFather Piero Parolari in Dinajpur Town, and Hindu priest Jogeswar Roy in Panchagarh District) in the recent past. 

‘Secularism’ (which means religious freedom for all religions and no state interference in any one) and ‘Islam as the state religion’ (which means the direct intervention of the state regarding Islam) are two opposites that dilute the consistency in the Constitution of Bangladesh.

To learn more on the writ-petition and background information on the state religion, please read the following:

• Writ challenging Islam as state religion rejected (The Daily Star, Dhaka: March 28, 2016)
• Bangladesh court upholds Islam as religion of the state (aljazeera.com: March 28, 2016) 
• In 2 minutes, Dhaka court rejects 1988 petition to drop Islam as state religion (atimes.com: March 28, 2016)
• Keeping Islam as State Religion in Bangladesh Triggers Mixed Reactions (voanews.com: March 28, 2016)
• Bangladesh court rejects scrapping Islam as state religion (ucanews.com: March 29, 2016)

 (To be updated)

Hindu Priest Killed, Devotee Shot In A Temple, Arrest Made in Bangladesh

Jogeswar Roy (50) was brutally killed by assailants on February 21, 2016

Photo courtesy: www.thedailystar.net/

A police guard at the Hindu temple after the murder of the priest

Photo courtesy: AFP

Relatives of the murdered priest mourning his death

Photo courtesy: AFP

A Hindu priest, Jogeswar Roy (also known as Jogeswar Dasadhikari), (50), of the Sri Sri Shanto  Gaurio Mot (Hindu temple-cum-school) of Shonapota village under Debiganj Upazilla of Panchagarh District, Bangladesh, was hacked to death with a chapati (machete) on February 21 early morning. 

When the priest was preparing to lead the morning prayer in the temple, some assailants came and pelted stones on the roof of the temple. Hearing the noise, Jogeswar came out of the temple and  realizing the impending danger, he began to run away. He was caught on his track and slaughtered there. Gopal Chandra Roy, one of the devotees, rushed to the aid of the injured priest but he was wounded with a bullet. Three assailants hurled a crude homemade bomb to scare people around and fled the scene on a motorcycle.

Unmarried Jogeswar Roy had established the temple in 1998 selling his lands and other properties. 

The Islamic State (IS) later in the day claimed responsibility of the murderous attack on the Hindu priest.  

Three persons, belonging to a banned Islamist group, have been arrested so far.

 

For more on the event, please read the following:

• Attack on Hindu temple: Priest killed, devotee shot
• Priest murdered in Panchagarh in northern Bangladesh
• Panchagarh priest brutally murdered
• Banned Islamic Group Suspected Behind slaying of Hindu priest in Bangladesh
• Priest killed, devotee shot
• IS claims Panchagarh priest murder: SITE
• IS Claims Murder of Hindu Priest in Northern Bangladesh
• Bangladesh Arrests Three Men in Priest's Beheading
• Police arrest three over Hindu priest's murder in Panchagarh
• Islamic extremists slit throat of Hindu priest in Bangladesh fuelling religious tensions 
• JMB man confesses to killing Panchagarh Hindu priest
• Human chains demand arrest, capital punishment of killers
• Panchagarh Hindu priest killing protested in 3 districts
• Murder of Hindu priest 'horrifies' British envoy in Dhaka Alison Blake
• EU condemns Panchagarh priest murder  

(Updated on March 4, 2016)

The Quotation of the Week (April 29-May 5, 2012)

A Hindu gentleman in the centenary celebration of Bandura Holy Cross High School, Dhaka District

Photo (Bandura: January 12, 2012) © Jerome D'Costa

Hindu Temple in Kerala, India, Unearths Treasure Trove of $22 Billion

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Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala,
India, draws world attention with the discovery of hidden
treasures in its underground vaults
Photo courtesy: http://www.hindudevotionalblog.com/

The sixteenth-century Hindu temple in Thiruvananthapuram – formerly known as Trivandrum – of the State of Kerala, South India, in early July yielded a treasure trove of over US$ 22 billion, secretly stashed in its deep underground vaults, reports The Daily Telegraph. In the last 140 years, these vaults remained unopened. Indian antiquarians mentioned the find’s worth as “astronomical!”

Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, dedicated to the Hindu god of Vishnu, was originally built by the feudal lord, Maharaja, of Travancore. Since its inception, pilgrims and devotees have been offering votive gifts in the forms of money, gold and diamond ornaments, and precious gems and stones.

The present treasure trove comprises of ornaments of gold, diamonds and precious stones. In addition, there are also thousands of gold coins of the day, including coins issued by the British East India Company (1600-1858) that first came on trading purposes but later became ruler of parts of India.

After the independence of India in 1947, the Indian government gradually took over the rule of the feudal states and kingdoms, run by maharajas. So was the case of the kingdom of Travancore. The Indian government allowed members of the royal family of Travancore to manage the trust of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.

Because of long complaints of mismanagement, the Supreme Court of India recently ordered the State government of Kerala to manage the trust to ensure the security of the temple’s valuable assets. As part of the inventory of the valuables, a thorough search of the temple grounds came into effect and, thus, discovery of the secret treasures came to light.

Until this find, the Tirupathy temple in the State of Andhra Pradesh of South-East India was considered the richest Hindu temple in the country.

Muslim Invasions and Looting and Destruction of Hindu Temples in India

At different eras, Muslim invaders, usually from Persia and Afghanistan, invaded India which was famous for its richly temple treasures in the forms of Hindu devotees’ offerings.

Mahmud Shah of Gazni (971-1030) invaded India 17 times. In his 16^th invasion, he ordered his soldiers to attack and destroy the ancient Hindu temple of Somnath in Gujerat. Rajput Hindus put up a brave defense, but ultimately Muslims broke it and reached the temple gates. In front of the temple there was a huge pillar in the shape of a phallus, locally called Shiva Lingam, which was encrusted with precious gems and stones and revered as a symbol of reproductive power. Soldiers destroyed this lingam after pillaging its valuables. They also robbed the temple of unforeseen treasures – gold and diamond ornaments, jewels and precious stones worth about 20 million dinars and destroyed it.

Mughal ruler Aurangzeb was famous for destroying many Hindu temples in India. Before their destruction, of course, Muslim soldiers first looted the temples of their treasures.