Laws of Bangladesh and religious freedom

Laws of Bangladesh and religious freedom 

Our THE PENAL CODE, 1860 (ACT NO. XLV OF 1860), have had punishments for ill-sayers, upto 1 yr and/or fine, section 298.

for vandals its 2 years and or fines.

This section 295A, was added in 1993 by then Parliamentarian Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General of the Jamaat i Islami, I assume it was targeted to prosecute Humayun Azad and alikes.

In December 2008, Jamaat i Islami promised, if elected to govern, to introduce a "blasphemy law" like Pakistan's. In Pakistan Over 50 people accused of blasphemy have been murdered before their respective trials were over. Since 1990, 62 people have been murdered as a result of blasphemy allegations

Ref#	Law Collection	Section	Year	Law	Sponsor	Pakistan's Law	Comment
1	Penal Code	295A	1860	any person who has a "deliberate" or "malicious" intention of "hurting religious sentiments" is liable to imprisonment
2	CrPC	99(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f)		"the government may confiscate all copies of a newspaper if it publishes anything subversive of the state or provoking an uprising or anything that creates enmity and hatred among the citizens or denigrates religious beliefs. The magistrate can send police with a warrant to the place where these newspapers are found. The aggrieved person can take the matter to the notice of the high court.			x
3	Rejected "blasphemy bill."	Proposed 295B	1993	created the new offence of "insult to the Quran," and would have had a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.	Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General of the Jamaat i Islami	Yes, 295B	x
4	Rejected "blasphemy bill."	Proposed 295C	1993	created the new offence of "insult to the Prophet," and would have had a maximum sentence of death	Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General of the Jamaat i Islami	Yes, 295C	x
5	ICT Law 2006	57.i	2006	If any person, willingly publishes or broadcasts any material on website or any other electronic form that is……or harm or may harm religious feelings, or provocation is instigated upon any person or organization through these materials, then his/her such act will be a crime			Amendment may happen soon
6	ICT Law 2006	57.ii	2006	For the crime of 57.i one may be punished max 14 yrs , min 7 years AND 1 crore taka fine

Constitution of Bangladesh, "Islam" and Secularism and Freedom of Speech

"Religion" and its state in Bangladesh Constitution, a study 

Ex-President Zia added "Bismillahir-Rahmaanir-Rahim" into the Constitution.

Section 2.A, added by ex-president H.M. Ershad,  says Bangladesh is an Islamic-Republic [fig-1].

fig-1

Question #1: Can we be Islamic Republic and still call "Secularism" as the Fourth Pillar of our constitution ?  

Section 12 says the state is to be "Secular", will have "freedom of religion". 12(a) says its to be communal state. [fig-2] . What is communal one may ask :

How can 2A and 12(a)  coexist in the same constitution ?  In a collection of communities how can one faith be adopted as the "Faith of the State" and still be true to the communion.


A recent WRIT petition challenging 2A seems like a much needed correction for a coherent constitution.

Question #2: How do we have religion based political parties in Bangladesh ? 

Section 12(b) says that the STATE will not provide "Political Status" to any religion [fig-2].   So can there exist any religion based political parties ( like:  Jamat-e-Islami, JMB, Chatra Shibir etc)  in Bangladesh when we have the 12.(b) in our constitution!?

fig-2

Look at the Section 41 that goes a bit detail on how religious freedom is to be fostered.

and protects citizens of any religion equally:

And here is the "Freedom of Speech" clause from the constitution :