Most of the Bangladeshi Muslims are all converted Muslims from Hinduism. As a result, the Muslims of Bangladesh are not as strict Muslims as people from the Middle East or even Pakistan. Although present-day Bangladeshi’s ancestors were Pakistanis at one time in history, the people couldn’t remain Pakistani because of political and cultural clashes with the rest of Pakistanis. A typical Bangladeshi Muslim doesn’t know how to read Arabic. For a Bangladeshi Muslim culture of India or Hindu centric culture is more familiar and attracts him more than Arab culture.
It’s a secular country with a Muslim majority of 90.3% of the country population. Minorities are 8.2% of Bangladesh population. Bangladesh is a Democratic country as per its constitution. The constitution of Bangladesh recognized secularism as a fundamental right for the welfare of the country’s citizens. But Bangladesh has declared Islam as the official religion of the nation.
Bangladesh is functionally a Muslim country, even if its Constitution pays lip service to secularism. The original Constitution of Bangladesh, written in 1972, enshrined secularism as one of the four pillars of the newly-formed People’s Republic of Bangladesh and defined the word “Bengali” as a demonym for its citizens. However, beginning in the mid-1970s, a wave of Islamization swept over the country. The political forces which had been opposed to the Liberation from Pakistan regrouped under the banner of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamaat Shibir and other groups.
Weak governance under Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the consequent civil unrest propelled General Ziaur Rahman to power in a military coup in 1975. By 1977, after a series of additional coups and counter-coups, he became head of the armed forces and eventually became President. In 1978, Rahman and others founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which espoused an ideology of Islamism and Bangladeshi nationalism
In 1977, the principle of secularism was removed from the Constitution through the 5th Amendment, as were references to freedom of religion for minorities, and was replaced with the statement: “absolute trust and faith in Almighty Allah”. In 1988, the government of Muhammad Ershad passed the National Religion Bill in the Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban (Parliament of Bangladesh), declaring Islam as the state religion.
By 1991, the hardline Muslim conservatives had already amassed enough power and influence to come to power and form a government (thanks, in part, to generous foreign funding from the Gulf, as well as a widespread system of madrassahs which were constructed starting in the 1970s, creating a pronounced religious-nationalist zeal in the public).
In 1997, the opening words ‘bismillah-ar-rahman-ar rahim’ (In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful) was added to the Constitution. In 2005, the High Court of Bangladesh ruled that the 5th Amendment (1977) was illegal and unconstitutional, and restored a constitution “in the spirit of the constitution of 1972”, which restored secularism as a key principle, but which retained some of the language introduced in 1977 and 1997, namely “absolute trust and faith in Almighty Allah” (1977) and ‘bismillah-ar-rahman-ar rahim’ (1997).
In 2010, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh upheld the 2005 decision of the High Court, but some of the changes from 1977, as well as the 1997 insertion, still remain. The Court also decided to let Islam remain as the state religion. In August 2015, a petition was filed in the High Court challenging the constitutional provision of Islam as the state religion in light of the constitution’s commitment to secularism, but in March 2016 the High Court rejected the petition and retained Islam as the state religion.
Bangladeshis are by ancestry originally descendants of low caste Hindus and Buddhists who just some centuries ago converted to Islam. Due to Bangladeshis being relatively newly converted Muslims the culture is extremely different from mainstream Islamic culture which is seen in the middle east or even Pakistan. Their culture is a mix of Islam and Hinduism where Hinduism has a strong presence in traditional culture, attires, food habits etc. One side has Islam as religion and another side has Hindu-Buddhist culture. Bangladeshis love Islam but the majority are not five times Namazi.
A Bangladeshi carry both Indian and Pakistani legacy. Every Bangladeshi was Indian before 1947 and Pakistani before 1971. India and Pakistan both gave birth to Bangladesh. So, there are people who carry Indian sentiments and there are people who carry Pakistani sentiments.
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The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), has announced protests in India against the attacks on the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh. They are also planning to hold a day-long global protest on October 23 to further raise their voice against the violence targeting Hindus in the neighbouring country.
In a democratic India, demand for Hindu Rashtra is prevailing frequently. Many staunch Hindu think tanks believe that India is a country of Hindus. Hindus have been in this country for five thousand years. They believe India is the ideal country to be declared as Hindu religion.
Rahul Kaul, the President, Youth for Panoon Kashmir said, “As a Kashmiri Hindu we have this ardent belief that declaring India as Hindu Rashtra and establishing principles of the Hindu way of living is the only way to free Bharat from the gallows of Islamic Jihad, which has engulfed our nation for last over 700 years. Its advent has resulted in the continuous Genocide of Kashmiri Hindus primarily and now spreading across Bharat because time and again incompetent social and political system has always overlooked the intricacies of Genocide and its denial today has allowed it to replicate in various forms across Bharat. We have an age-old tradition that its only Hindu way of living justifies the highest epitome of Pluralism but with no space for fascist, radical and imposing faith that is propagated in Bharat via Islamic Jihad. Establishing Hindu Rashtra is the only way to establish peace in Kashmir in specific and across the entire Bharat and eventually across the Globe in general.”
Advocate Abbas Kazmi said, “After about 74 years of India’s Independence some radicals are demanding for a Hindu Rashtra. Our founding fathers had after gaining Independence declared in its Constitution, India as a socialist secular democratic Republic. Various minorities and ethnic communities are living in harmony with the majority. Some political outfits to gain absolute control and everlasting power in India are pressing for a Hindu Rashtra. Next in line would be a dictatorship form of government. The minorities are quite large in number and equally powerful and they will never submit and accept this notion of Hindu Rashtra. The forceful implementation of this Sham notion would result in bloodshed and disaster. Even a large number of Hindus are not submitting to this form of govt. The main purpose of this stunt is to grab power forever and to bring the slavery form of government to India once again by persecuting the minorities and quelling their voices.”
Advocate & Former Public Prosecutor Rohini Salian said, “No, we the people of this country are Indians. We are all just people of this great country with fundamental and constitutional rights to vote and elect our own people to govern our country within the framework of our Constitution. We have equal rights and duties with reasonable restrictions towards the Nation. The nation belongs to we the People, we elect our representatives to put forth our grievances before the body elected by us for the good governance of the smooth running of our country. We are independent and secular. We have not elected any party, community to change the nomenclature of this Nation. We have not elected anybody to sell this country. Our reps are our servants to serve us. They are not our bosses. They have the oath to serve us diligently for a period of five years.”
Advocate Devendra Sharma, “Present constitutional scheme is a continuation of Imperialism with minor cosmetic alterations, primarily its colonial pro-Abrahamic faith system is Anti-Sanatan Dharm. Secularism is the official political ideology of the constitution wherein; minorities need to be protected by giving them privilege against anti-minority Hindu Majoritarianism is its fundamental premise. Hindus are second class citizens under the existing discriminatory orders. Therefore, the demand of Hindu Rashtra is a question of life and death for Hindus to ensure equitable fundamental rights to protect their civilizational, cultural Dharmic values which are under threat from Abrahamic secularist political ideology. Hindu Rashtra means and includes a Nation without any discrimination where Hindus celebrate their civilizational Values without any fear and threat.”
Dr Sanjay Bhide said, “One language, One Religion and One Culture keep the people of the country together. All over the World, the countries enjoy such situations, and those countries have thrived! It is always advantageous to take decisions in the common interest of the country to face the least opposition, not to receive fractured Mandates to the decisions. Hindustan has different languages and different regional cultures. It makes decision-making very difficult. However, Hinduism is the only common religion in our country. If our country is declared as a Hindu nation, it shall be certainly helpful for the protection of Hindu culture by reducing any kind of unethical opposition to implementing decisions. Our country will unite immediately. To represent the Hindu Population of more than 1.30 billion spread all over the world, to preserve Hindu culture and Hindu identity, declaring our country as the Hindu country is the only solution.”
Aam Aadmi Party leader Preeti Sharma Menon said, “It would indeed be a sad day that instead of aspiring to be a world leader, our country aspires to be a religious state like Nepal and Bangladesh. Bhagat Singh did not lay down his life for a religious state, he did it for liberty. Babasaheb did not write the Constitution for religion, he wrote it for every citizen. And the BJP/RSS combine will never take this away from us.”
Chetan Rajhans, National spokesperson of Sanatan Sanstha told said, “Bharat never had secular governance. Raja Harishchandra, Prabhu Shriram from ‘Treta Yuga’; Maharaj Yudhishthir in ‘Dwapar Yuga’, Samrat Chandragupta, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Vijaynagar’s Krushnadevrai, Afghanistan’s Raja Dahir and Rajasthan’s Maharana Pratap etc were not secular kings. All these kings ruled over Hindu Rashtra. 563 ‘Sansthans’ were governed as individually ruled States at the time of independence as per Hindu culture. In 1947, Hindustan was a Hindu nation. In 1976, Indira Gandhi declared Bharat as a secular country. This secular democracy has caused immense harm to Bharat and Hindus. Hindu Society should work together for the revival of Bharat as a Hindu Rashtra.”
Sumit Savarkar, Youth Convener, Shourya Jagaran Abhiyan, Maharashtra said, “The external problems will be solved in the ‘Hindu Nation’. Foremost among the external problems before the Nation is the threat of war with Pakistan and China. A similar situation existed during Shivaji Maharaj’s time. Aurangzeb was keen on swallowing Shivaji Maharaj’s small kingdom. However, he was terrified by the news of the ceremonious establishment of the ‘Hindu Nation’ with the coronation ceremony of Shivaji Maharaj. Subsequently, during the entire life of Shivaji Maharaj, Aurangzeb did not dare approach Maharashtra, leave alone South Bharat. Once ‘Hindu Nation’ is established, no country will dare play mischief with us.”
Sadguru (Dr.) Charudatta Pingle, National Guide, Hindu Rastra Adhiveshan said, “There are 157 Christian Nations, 52 Muslim Nations, 12 Buddhist Nations and 1 Jewish Nation in the world. However, was there a ‘Hindu Nation’ at all? Yes, Hindus did have their own Sanatan Nation on this earth till 1947. What is the state of that Nation today? Hence, we want Hindu Rashtra.”
Sunil Ghanwat, Spokesperson of Shri Mahalakshmi Devsthan Bharshtachar Virodhi Kruti Samiti, Kolhapur said, “The secular governance that is prevalent in the nation today only calls for the government takeover of Hindu temples, and not of any Mosque, Church or Madarasa. The temple wealth is utilised to provide funds to the ‘secular’ government’s schemes as well as various incentives provided to people of other religions. Now the secular government even takes decisions regarding the temple priests and what religious rites are to be performed in temples. Even though the Supreme Court of India has pointedly asked ‘what business a secular government has in the affairs of a temple’, none of the political parties across the nation has come forth to hand over the temple authority to the Hindus. What sort of ‘secularism’ is this? This is why we need Hindu Rashtra.”
Abhijit Khedkar an archaeologist said, “I am Hindu but I don’t have any problem with the name India, as far as framing India as a Hindu nation is concerned, the question doesn’t seem to be appropriate. Ever since India came into existence it has been known for its unity in diversity. Naming India particularly a Hindu nation would destroy its unity in diversity. Also, India has been a land of opportunities, and possibilities for each of its citizens, no matter whether it is about Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain or anyone else. India has always been a nation of equal rights for everyone. So, the question doesn’t make sense.”
All is not well in Maharashtra congress, somewhere the state unit chief Nana Patole is playing spoiler for Congress. Young leader and The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Sachin Sawant, who has been always at the frontage to present the party’s argument while taking on BJP on a number of issues. He is been strongly guarding the interest of Congress in the worst of its scenarios. He has recently resigned from his post.
In a relief to farmers hit by unseasonal rains in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday announced the compensation of Rs 50,000 per hectare for damaged crops.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed the Uttar Pradesh government and said that it was getting an impression that the Uttar Pradesh Police was “dragging its feet” in its investigation into the October 3 violence in Lakhimpur Kheri where eight persons, including four farmers, were killed during a farmers’ protest. “We think you (UP Police) are dragging your feet. Please dispel that impression,” a Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli observed.
The right to seek ‘default’ bail is a fundamental right and an indefeasible part of the right to personal liberty under the Constitution which cannot be suspended even during a pandemic situation, the Delhi High Court said.
The Hindutva poster boy Raj Thackeray after joining hands for the recently held Palghar Zilla Parishad elections, the BJP received a boost as Maharashtra Navnirman Sena may tie up further for the forthcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. These days all the political equations between BJP and MNS are expected to be on Saffronisation and Hindutva agenda.