Secularism Back in Bangladesh

On 3rd January 2010, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court lifted a four- year stay on a ban on ‘the abuse of religion for political purposes’. By lifting the ‘stay’, the Supreme Court approved the 29 August 2005 judgment of a ‘three judge bench’ led by justice ABM Khairul Haque. The bench also defined the meaning of secularism as religious tolerance and religious freedom. The state must not show any favour to any particular religion or faith.
 
The ‘three judge bench’ had declared Fifth Amendment to the constitution of Bangladesh as illegal. The Fifth Amendment to the constitution legitimized all the governments which were formed in Bangladesh after the military coup of 15 August 1975 in which the then Prime Minister Sheikh-Mujibur-Rehman was assassinated and the military general Zia-ur-Rehman had become the President.

The Fifth Amendment was passed in April 1979 by the Bangladesh legislature.

The Amendment also legitimized “Bismillah-ar-Rahman-ar-Rahim” in the preamble of the country’s Constitution, and agreed to over a hundred military proclamations and orders. The most important one was the proclamation order of 1977. It removed Article12 from the constitution. Article 12 allowed freedom of religion and secularism.

The proclamation order of 1977 was passed b Zia-ur-Rehman.